You can now share tweets directly to Snapchat, and Instagram might be next

Twitter is coming to Snapchat. 

Starting Thursday, Twitter users will be able to share tweets directly to Snapchat. Much like selecting a tweet to forward to a friend via SMS, the new option — for now limited to iOS, but coming soon to Android — will let people put clickable tweets directly in their Snapchat posts. 

Notably, according to Twitter, the company will begin a similar (albeit more limited) test with Instagram Stories in the near future. 

“This is the first time a Tweet can be shared visually to Stories, while still accessing the Camera and full suite of Snapchat Creative Tools,” reads Twitter’s announcement. “Viewers in Snapchat can tap the attachment to view the Tweet and replies directly in Twitter.”

In the past, to put tweets inside Snapchat Stories, users employed creative workarounds like screenshotting the tweet in question. That method, of course, divorced the tweet from whatever thread or conversation it may have originally been a part of on Twitter. 

While Thursday’s update might not be that obviously important to the average user, it makes it easier to verify that tweets spotted in Snapchat Stories are in fact real — that is to say, that they’re not an edited screenshot. All you need to do is click through to confirm it’s an unedited tweet, whereas before you would have had to hunt the original tweet down. 

According to Twitter, here’s how it will work:

1. Tap the share icon on the public tweet. (Note: A protected tweet cannot be shared.)

2. Tap the Snapchat icon on the bottom horizontal scroll of icons.

3. If you’re signed into the Snapchat app on your device and not in the middle of creating a Snap, the Snapchat app will open directly to the Camera and the tweet you want to share will appear on top of the Camera as an immovable sticker. If you want to use a Lens, tap the screen to activate the Lens Carousel.

4. Once you take your Snap (as a video or a photo), you can pinch to move and resize the tweet sticker. More Snapchat Creative Tools can be used at this point including: captions, stickers, Bitmojis, Cameos and Filters.

5. Tap the blue send button in the bottom right corner to share with individuals or groups or to post to your Story for all your friends to see.

6. People will be able to see the Tweet as a sticker in your Snap and can swipe up to go to Twitter to view the Tweet and all of the replies. 

It’s not clear if sharing tweets directly to Instagram Stories will be a similar process, or even if Twitter will make that feature available to all users, but the company did provide a peek at what it should look like. 

Instagram Stories looks better already. 

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