Hassle a developer: Why does Twitter reduce avatar sizes to a thumbnail when you click on them?

Developers know everything about the web, so why not hassle them with our inane* questions?

This burning (and frankly, puzzling) query comes from Winnipeg journalist Chris D:

@ericaglasier Any idea why Twitter reduced the size of avatars when you click on them to tiny thumbnails instead of original sizes like b4?less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet ReplyChris D.
ChrisDca

Why indeed? When you click on someone’s avatar, it’s because you’re hoping for biggie-sized glory! Instead, you’re disappointed with an even smaller image.

Clicking a Twitter avatar to see it larger.

See? Boo.

A teeny, pointless Twitter avatar.

Tactica developer Robin to the rescue—not with the philosophical “why” Twitter decided to do this, but an action-oriented workaround:


@EricaGlasier @Chrisdca Strange, if you remove _bigger from the image URL, you can see the full sized version.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyRobin Hillman
hamcake

Really? Ok, let’s go for it: a quick URL modification removing the “_bigger”…

Modify that URL, you hacker!

…and voila! Ginormous, original-size Twitter graphic!

Boo ya, biggie sized Twitter avatar!

*Believe me, we ask our developers inane questions ALL DAY. We’re way more inane than you.

  • Anonymous

    It might be because of mobile. That size might be the large mobile size.