WordPress debuts a tool that can take blog posts, including accompanying images and videos, and post them as Twitter threads automatically
TechCrunchSarah Perez
Context & Ripple Effects
This tool extends a decade of WordPress-to-Twitter plumbing that began with the official Twitter plugin for WordPress in 2015 — the pitch being that long-form posts deserve native reach on the timeline, not just a bare link.
It matters because the integration sat on Twitter's API, and when those terms shifted years later, Automattic ended up dropping JetPack's automatic tweet posting altogether, citing the API's changed pricing — making this 2020 launch the high-water mark of easy cross-posting before the door closed.
First-order effects
Bloggers on WordPress can repurpose an existing post — images and videos included — into a Twitter thread without manual splitting, lowering the cost of syndicating long-form content to Twitter's audience.
WordPress deepens its dependence on Twitter's API as a distribution channel, embedding a third party's terms of service into its core publishing workflow.
Second-order effects
Because the feature rides on Twitter's API rather than an open standard, any repricing or restriction of that API flows directly into WordPress product decisions — which is precisely what forced Automattic's later JetPack retrenchment.
Rival publishing platforms face pressure to offer equivalent one-click thread conversion, turning social syndication into table stakes rather than a differentiator.
Third-order effects
The pattern points toward publishers treating proprietary-API integrations as disposable and hedging toward protocols no single company can reprice — the logic behind Automattic's acquisition of the ActivityPub plugin to bring blogs into the Fediverse.
If platform API volatility persists, cross-posting tools migrate from free conveniences to paid tiers or open-protocol alternatives, reshaping how independent publishers budget for distribution.
The trend: Publishing platforms are learning that distribution built on another company's API is rented ground, pushing them toward open protocols like ActivityPub as durable insurance.
Sure there have been WP to Twitter plugins before...but this is different. As something baked directly into @WordPress Jetpack I see it as being more trustworthy. ... And this could also help to enable a new bridge btwn the ‘old’ legacy world of blogging and social media. https:/…
@danyork
Dan York on x
By way of a mention on Techmeme today (https://www.techmeme.com/...), I learned that WordPress now allows you to tweet out a blog post as a linked thread of tweets.
@dangillmor
Dan Gillmor on x
This new feature from WordPress is going to get me back to blogging more often. Breaks up blog posts into Twitter threads, in a fairly elegant way. https://wordpress.com/...
@karoli
@karoli on x
NO. AND NO AGAIN. Holy shit, just no. https://twitter.com/...
@eaton
Actually on x
There's a whole essay to be written about the value of “sub-entity” content structures that can be mixed and matched inside of otherwise vanilla CMS content types. This is a great example. https://twitter.com/...
@mattcocco
Matt Cocco on x
So you can now post your blog that I wouldn't click on as a 70 tweet thread that I will also not click on. https://twitter.com/...
@madhvimavadiya
Madhvi on x
Hmm I assume this is an attention span thing... are people now more likely to read a thread of tweets - however long - than an article? 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@bdsams
Brad Sams on x
And 2020 continues its streak of going downhill. https://twitter.com/...
@photomatt
Matt Mullenweg on x
I think people on this site might dig this. Make a Twitter thread tweetstorm when you publish a blog post. https://en.blog.wordpress.com/ ...
@johnellert
Johnny Sandquist on x
Is it a law of the universe that the internet can only become more horrible, not better? https://twitter.com/...
@hunterwalk
@hunterwalk on x
@photomatt need the reverse too!
@mathewi
Mathew Ingram on x
I for one would love it if we could reverse this process! https://twitter.com/...
@therealfitz
Brian Fitzpatrick on x
Thanks I hate it https://twitter.com/...
@lucianobernal_
Luciano Bernal on x
I've always tried to avoid using these type of canned software tools, like WordPress. In fact, WordPress has a lot of security issues. But I have to admit that it is very useful to get a site up and running fast, even without technical knowledge. https://twitter.com/...
@kplikethebird
Katie Scare-ott on x
Blogs and Twitter are fundamentally different mediums and need to be treated as such, folks. https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton
Casey Newton on x
Do not, under any circumstances, do this https://twitter.com/...
@kantrowitz
Alex Kantrowitz on x
For all the tech that's been built to enable tweetstorming, it would've been wise to start with a one-word question: Why? 1/176 https://twitter.com/...
@ow
@ow on x
please....no https://techcrunch.com/...
@martinsfp
Martin Sfp Bryant on x
Thread haters, beware: https://twitter.com/...
@mattnavarra
Matt Navarra on x
WordPress adds clever new trick to convert blog posts into Twitter threads https://techcrunch.com/...
@gartenberg
Michael Gartenberg on x
I often feel tweet storms just just be blog posts. Now there's a way to make Twitter even more difficult to read and navigate. https://techcrunch.com/...