Twitter

Christmas lights and decorations adorn a house in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2009.

World News

New Zealand Is Warming Hearts With A Nationwide Secret Santa

2:08pm November 29, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Nearly 2,000 people in New Zealand are gearing up to spread a little joy by giving a gift to a stranger. The gift exchange is run by the country's postal service and is now in its seventh year.

Twitter has suspended some accounts linked to the alt-right movement.

Twitter Suspends Prominent Alt-Right Accounts

7:55pm November 16, 2016

by Alina Selyukh

Several suspended accounts are linked to Richard Spencer, one of the leaders of the movement associated with white nationalism. Twitter has been pushing to curb hate speech and abuse on its platform.

Abuse and offensive posts on Twitter increased during the acrimonious presidential campaign this year.

National

Twitter Adds New Ways To Mute And Report Abusive Posts

3:19pm November 15, 2016

by Alina Selyukh

Twitter has long faced criticism for its inability to curb harassment and threatening posts. It's now expanding options to flag abuse or avoid seeing offensive posts.

Vine user CalebCity pokes fun at the spare dishes presented in fancy restaurants. Twitter announced this week that it's closing the video app.

National

A Moment Of Silence For The Black And Brown Talent That Grew On Vine

12:20pm October 28, 2016

by Kat Chow

We'll miss Vine, but not just for its goofy, raw, six-second looped videos. We'll miss the platform for its ability to incubate young black talent.

End Of The Vine: Twitter Says It's Closing Video App Amid Wider Layoffs

4:27pm October 27, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The social media company posted stronger-than-expected revenue of $616 million in the third quarter — even as revenue growth continued to slow. To be more efficient, it'll cut around 350 jobs.

When Twitter started, its founders wanted to connect people from all parts of the world, but the company is struggling to grow beyond its 300 million users.

Twitter's Dual Challenges: Taming The Trolls, Attracting More Users

6:45pm October 26, 2016

by NPR Staff

Twitter is a powerful platform for news and conversation, but lingering problems with hate speech hamper its efforts to grow, says Emily Bell of the Columbia Journalism School.

Queue Listen Now

The Twitter Paradox: How A Platform Designed For Free Speech Enables Internet Trolls

1:59pm October 26, 2016

Charlie Warzel, who covers technology for BuzzFeed, has written a series of articles about Twitter's response to hate speech. He says the platform's community guidelines are enforced haphazardly.

Queue Listen Now

A Canadian company put out a call for Canadians to share videos of what they like about America and what makes it great.

Canada Just Wants To #TellAmericaItsGreat

6:54pm October 14, 2016

by Sam Sanders

A Canadian company started the hashtag #TellAmericaItsGreat to help its southern neighbors endure this contentious election season.

Author Kelly Oxford attends a brunch in Hollywood in September. Oxford invited women to share stories of assault on Twitter; she says she received more than 1 million responses.

One Tweet Unleashes A Torrent Of Stories Of Sexual Assault

5:10pm October 11, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Donald Trump talked about grabbing women's genitals. On Twitter, tens of thousands of women have told stories from the other side of sexual assault, sharing their stories with the hashtag #NotOkay.

Several companies are said to be considering bids for Twitter.

National

As Buyers Circle, Could Twitter Be Better Off As A Nonprofit?

1:54pm October 05, 2016

by Laura Sydell

Disney, Google and others are said to be considering buying Twitter. It's got baggage — lackluster ad sales, abusive trolling — but also millions of users. What if Twitter focused on a public mission?