Twitter is removing support for precise geotagging – because no one uses it
Twitter is going to stop letting you add a precise geotag to your tweets, because there isn’t enough demand for the feature.
In a tweet, the company’s support account said that it was removing the feature “to simplify your Tweeting experience.” However, you’ll still be able to tag the precise location of your photographs, and TechCrunch notes that you’ll also still be able to add your location to tweets via the service’s integration with mapping services like FourSquare and Yelp.
When Twitter originally announced support for geotagging back in 2009, it had big ambitions for the feature. Rather than focusing on tweets from people you follow, Twitter thought people might start browsing tweets based on location, allowing them to keep up with a local event like a concert. In the end though, it seems like people found it far more convenient to organize around hashtags and trending topics. Meanwhile, keeping a feature around that barely anyone wants presents a privacy risk if people use it accidentally.
Most people don't tag their precise location in Tweets, so we're removing this ability to simplify your Tweeting experience. You'll still be able to tag your precise location in Tweets through our updated camera. It's helpful when sharing on-the-ground moments.
— Support (@Support) June 18, 2019
Just think, Twitter is now old enough that it’s started stripping out useless features to make its service simpler for people to use. Yet, in 2019, we still don’t have an edit button, despite having been asking for one since roughly forever. Maybe this will free up a couple of engineers to implement one. Fingers crossed.