Twitter Moments guidelines and principles

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.

What follows are the standards and guidelines for creating and selecting Moments that we as a Twitter curation team follow.

Moments curation policy

Moments is designed to help people find great content on Twitter. Our own curators do not act as reporters or creators of original content; instead, they organize and present compelling content that already exists on Twitter in a straightforward, easy-to-consume way.

These global guidelines are designed to articulate what goes into making the best experience possible for both consumers of content and those whose content is featured in Moments.

Creating great Moments

Moments is designed to highlight remarkable content on Twitter. They should appeal to a broad audience, and the content should be appropriate for all parts of the Twitter community.

Sometimes Moments will parallel what is relevant on the world stage or in the media; other times, they will be built on content unique to Twitter. We will select Moments based on what is happening on Twitter, or create Moments based on Twitter content featured across media outlets. When selecting Moments around controversial topics, we will choose topics that are big news in the mainstream press or are demonstrably large public conversations on Twitter.

We avoid creating Moments that may invade privacy, encourage illegal activities, exploit or harm minors, or make Twitter, Inc. a focus of the story.

We do not duplicate curated collections or sets of Tweets embedded on a single third-party website, or those retweeted from a single Twitter account.

Selecting great Tweets

Moments is about featuring content created by people on Twitter. We will always 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 will avoid featuring content created by Twitter employees.

Bias, accuracy, standards

Moments are intended to feature compelling, original and diverse content. When selecting content to appear in a Moment, we consider the content of the Tweet, any media, and the avatar and username of the poster.

• Bias: We will use data-driven decision making when choosing Tweets around controversial topics, and highlight the Tweets already receiving the most engagement on Twitter. On topics which reflect public debate, we will select Tweets that represent many sides of the argument or story where feasible. Twitter curators should not advance their own viewpoints, but rather reflect the discussion as it appears on our platform.
• Accuracy: When dealing with news or newsworthy content, we want to highlight quality Tweets that represent accurate information. If we become aware that we have highlighted content that turns out to be inaccurate, 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.
• Standards: Profanity, violence, nudity, and other types of potentially sensitive content should be avoided except where it is necessary to tell a newsworthy story. We will not include content that promotes or depicts illegal conduct. We will provide individuals with clear notice that a Moment may contain potentially sensitive content.

Style guidelines 

A Moment is a collection of Tweets that is, like Tweets themselves, a flexible way to tell creative stories, using a diverse range of voices, a wide range of media, and which unfolds to tell a full and compelling story. The best Moments include Tweets that come directly from the scene or a source, and reflect the perspective, timeliness or voice in order to capitalize on the unique content that Twitter enables.

Here are some considerations for creating Moments:

• Every Moment should provide information or an angle that is unique to Twitter.
• Every Moment should inspire viewers to want to share it.
• Every Moment should be timely.
• Every Moment should highlight the people, voices, and perspectives of a story.

Some Moments created by the Twitter curation team may include additional text beneath the title or between Tweets. This text is meant to add context to the Moment and may be a translation of Tweets in the Moment or a reiteration of content from these Tweets. If this additional text is not sourced from a Tweet in the Moment, it should be easily verifiable or attributed to its source.

Avoiding conflicts of interest

Our Moments curation team is not responsible for driving revenue, user growth, or managing Twitter’s partner relationships. We will feature Tweets in Moments and select Moments based on what best serves our audience, and not to benefit advertisers, partners, or Twitter’s business interests. The Curation team will generally avoid creating Moments that cover our own industry, our company, or our competitors. However, 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.

Moments created by individuals and Twitter partners

We allow individuals and partners to curate Moments, and may feature those Moments in the Moments tab (twitter.com) and the Explore tab (Twitter for iOS and Android). We review every Moment before featuring it, and will ensure that any Moment featured in the Moments and Explore tabs or from a Moments account meets the overall curatorial standards outlined in this policy. We will also always clearly indicate who curated a Moment.

Some Moments created by Twitter partners may be sponsored by a third party. We do not take these sponsorships into account when selecting partner Moments for inclusion in the Moments and Explore tabs. All Moments, including sponsored partner Moments, must adhere in full to our overall curatorial standards.