Twitter Moments guidelines and principles
How does Twitter curate Moments?
Out of hundreds of millions of Tweets a day, Moments surface the best of what’s happening on Twitter. Through Moments, millions of people can enjoy the power of Twitter—at the center of a protest, the front row at the Oscars, on the field at the World Cup, or from outer space. What you see on Twitter is what’s happening in the world.
Moments are created in multiple ways. Some Moments, such as those covering sporting events or TV shows, are created algorithmically to reflect the unfolding conversation while the event is happening. Others are prepared manually by our Curation team, following standards and guidelines that are explained in more detail below.
The Curation team
The Curation team’s goal is to find and highlight great Tweets, including text, video, GIFs and live streams, that provide insight and context to the conversations happening right now on Twitter. Curators don’t act as reporters or creators of original work, they organize and present compelling content that already exists on Twitter. This content appears in Moments, explanatory content on Trends, in lists and more.
Our curators are a global, multilingual team looking for the best things happening on Twitter across news, sports, entertainment, and fun. We currently serve 16 markets in five languages (English, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese). Curators receive regular training on accuracy, impartiality, and identifying high-quality content.
Curation policy
Impartiality, accuracy and standards
We aim to uphold high standards of accuracy, impartiality and fairness in our curation.
Moments are intended to feature compelling, original, and diverse content. When selecting Tweets and video for a Moment, we consider the content and media as well as the avatar and username of the poster.
Impartiality: We make data-driven decisions when choosing Tweets around controversial topics, seeking Tweets already receiving significant engagement on Twitter. On topics of public debate, we seek to represent a variety of viewpoints whenever feasible. Curators receive ongoing training on impartiality and strive to objectively reflect the conversation as it appears on the platform.
Accuracy: Our goal is to highlight quality Tweets that represent accurate information. Our team receives regular training on social media verification practices and most Moments undergo a review process before they are featured.
Corrections: If we become aware that we have highlighted inaccurate information, we will update the Moment with a visible correction and issue an updated Tweet. In rare cases, we may delete the Moment and post a retraction using the relevant country Twitter account.
Standards: Profanity, violence, nudity and other types of potentially sensitive content are avoided except when it’s necessary to highlight a newsworthy conversation. We will not include content that promotes or depicts illegal conduct. Any Moment that may contain potentially sensitive content will include a warning.
Avoiding conflicts of interest
Our Curation team isn’t responsible for driving revenue, user growth, or managing Twitter’s partner relationships. We feature Tweets and videos, and select Moments topics based on what best serves our audience. These decisions aren’t influenced by advertisers, partners, or Twitter’s business interests.
The Curation team will generally avoid creating Moments that cover our industry, our company, or our competitors. If Twitter, or its competitors, become a significant part of the conversation on the platform (for instance, if the issue becomes a trending topic), our Curation team may curate a factual summary of the conversation, including a response from the company where available.
Selecting Moments topics
Moments highlight remarkable Tweets that are engaging, informative or unique. They should appeal to a broad audience and the content should be appropriate for all parts of the Twitter community.
Some Moments will reflect world and media events, while others will be based on unique “only on Twitter” content. We select Moments topics based on what people are discussing on Twitter. When curating around controversial topics, we look to demonstrably large conversations on Twitter and big news in the region’s mainstream press.
We avoid creating Moments that may invade privacy, encourage illegal activities, or exploit or harm minors. Content that violates the Twitter rules will never be featured. We do not duplicate curated collections or sets of Tweets embedded on third-party websites, or those retweeted from a single Twitter account.
Selecting great Tweets
Moments is about highlighting the smart, witty, and innovative content created by people on Twitter. We will be faithful to individual voices when we include them in Moments, and will not include Tweets in a way that misleads, substantially changes a Tweet’s original context, or includes content from protected accounts. We avoid featuring content created by Twitter employees.
Annotations
Some Moments created by the Twitter Curation team may include additional text beneath the title or between Tweets, called Annotations. This text is meant to add context to the Moment and may be a summary of a developing situation, historical details, or a translation of a Tweet in the Moment. If Annotations are not sourced from a Tweet in the Moment, they should be easily verifiable or attributed to a source.