Oops: Twitter on Thursday "accidentally" removed the @ identifier from the start of iOS users' tweet responses.
Citing an "experiment around replies," the company gave folks a glimpse into a micro-blogging world where usernames don't count toward character limits.
Today, an experiment around replies accidentally went out to everyone on iOS briefly. Upside, we got helpful feedback - we're listening!
— Twitter Support (@Support) December 9, 2016
The change was quickly rolled back, amidst negative fan feedback.
"Hated it," Michelle Jones wrote in response to the Twitter Support notice.
"How dumb are you that this experiment even left the whiteboard," Sam Sabri added.
"Removing the Twitter handle makes it so much harder to identify people and properly follow a conversation," Angel Dominguez said.
Luckily for all the haters out there, Twitter said it is listening and taking stock of "helpful feedback."
The social network in May tipped changes to its username system, suggesting ditching the ".@" convention, used by many to ensure tweets directed at or citing people show up in the timelines of all followers.
But the feature was notably absent from a September revamp, in which Twitter loosened its restrictions, allowing photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and Quote Tweets to no longer count toward the 140-character limit.
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"One of the biggest priorities for this year is to refine our product and make it simpler," company head Jack Dorsey said in May. "We're focused on making Twitter a whole lot easier and faster." It remains unclear, however, whether this week's gaffe signals an upcoming adjustment to the system, or another internal trial that will end up on the cutting room floor.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Folks often forget that the popular social media site was conceived nearly a decade ago as an SMS-Web hybrid platform: The seemingly arbitrary 140-character limit corresponds to the 160-character SMS ceiling (saving an additional 20-character buffer for usernames).