Twitter logo
(Image credit: Creative Commons)

Twitter recently changed its prompt question from "What are you doing?" to the more open-ended "What’s happening?"—triggering the sort of intense discussion and analysis that any small change to a cherished social media site provokes. What's the subtext of the new text?

The new prompt clarifies the site's mission: Twitter was originally (and modestly) concieved to let people post "personal status updates," says Barb Dybwad at Mashable, but it has evolved into a broader discussion forum and an outlet for "citizen journalism." At very least, "what's happening?" makes the site more intuitive to new users.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us