Twitter Inc. today said that it will start rolling out a new feature that allows people to send audio tweets, which will only be available at first to a select few people using iOS phones.

“Sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough and some conversational nuances are lost in translation,” the company wrote in a blog post. “So starting today, we’re testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way we use Twitter – your very own voice.”

Those who get the option to voice-tweet will see a new wavelength icon when they want to compose a message. They can hit that and the message will begin recording. Twitter said that only 140 seconds of audio can be recorded in one tweet, but users can keep talking and the rest of the message will be recorded in separate tweets that will become a thread. That thread can have 25 separate tweets.

Once users have finished and hit the “Done” button, the message will appear on the timeline along with any other tweets. The message can then be listened to, and since the message will appear in a separate window, users can scroll through Twitter while listening to it. According to a Twitter help page, this feature will not work when replying or retweeting with a reply.

The company said it hopes the new feature will create a more “human experience,” adding, “Whether it’s #storytime about your encounter with wild geese in your neighborhood, a journalist sharing breaking news, or a first-hand account from a protest, we hope voice Tweeting gives you the ability to share your perspectives quickly and easily with your voice.” Twitter didn’t say how it will go about moderating the audio content, which could turn out to be troublesome.

Although only a select number of people will have the feature on iOS at first, Twitter said that in the coming weeks all users on iOS will have it. As for people using Android, the company didn’t say when they would have audio tweets.

Photo: Esther Vargas/Flickr