Twitter will now show View counts next to a tweet: Everything to know

Twitter has started rolling out a new feature which will show the view count next to a tweet. This number represents the total number of times the tweet has been viewed on the platform.

Twitter, Twitter view counts, How to enable views counts on Twitter, Twitter tweet views

Twitter will now show views at the beginning of each public tweet. (Image credit: Express Photo)

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Twitter has started rolling out a new feature which will show the view count next to a tweet. This represents the total number of times the tweet has been viewed on the platform. The feature was promised by Twitter owner Elon Musk and its rollout has now begun.

According to Twitter’s blog post, the number will help users “easily see the reach” of their tweets and those on their timelines. The View count will “appear next to the analytics icon on each tweet,” adds the post, and it is already visible for several tweets.

In a separate tweet, Musk wrote, “Twitter is rolling out View Count, so you can see how many times a tweet has been seen! This is normal for video. Shows how much more alive Twitter is than it may seem, as over 90% of Twitter users read, but don’t tweet, reply or like, as those are public actions.” He also added that “tweets are read ~100 times more than they are liked.”

The View count number is yet another metric that Musk and the team are highlighting to showcase that the platform continues to have high engagement. Musk has also claimed in other posts that Twitter is seeing record-high engagement after he took over as he tries to fend off criticism.

Twitter is rolling out View Count, so you can see how many times a tweet has been seen! This is normal for video.

Shows how much more alive Twitter is than it may seem, as over 90% of Twitter users read, but don’t tweet, reply or like, as those are public actions.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2022

Tweets are read ~100 times more than they are liked

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2022

But in a separate FAQ, Twitter also confirmed that not all tweets have view counts. This includes tweets which are Community Tweets and Twitter Circle Tweets and Older Tweets. According to the post, “it may take up to a minute after a tweet is posted for the count to show.”

Twitter also confirmed that everyone on the platform will be able to see this number. Regarding who is considered a viewer, the post notes that anyone who views the tweets is counted, irrespective of where they see it, and even if they are not following the user.

“Even an author looking at their own Tweet counts as a view,” explains the post.

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But this number could also be inflated. For instance, “multiple views may be counted if you view a Tweet more than once, but not all views are unique.” The post explains that if one sees a tweet on the web and then on their phone it will count as two views.

Twitter will also let users see the view counts on protected accounts as well. These are accounts where the creator of the account has to approve a follower’s request.