Twitter introduced a change that is meant to combat the cacophony that characterizes — and often plagues — the micro-blogging tool platform.
Starting today, users will be able to select a new timeline feature that shows the best tweets from the accounts they follow first. The feature works on its mobile apps and is optional.
In a blog post, senior engineering manager Mike Jahr said that the feature came in response to user complaints that they’ve missed the most important tweets. “We hear this from people every day,” Jahr wrote. He also said that in early testing, people who used this feature tended to tweet and retweet more — “which is good for all of us.”
This is the latest in a series of updates to Twitter that are intended to make the platform easier to use, especially for new users. Among Twitter’s key challenges is its stagnating growth of new users.
In speaking to WWD in October, Forrester Research analyst Erna Alfred Liousas said that returning chief executive officer and founder Jack Dorsey has “pretty much owned up to the fact that there was a major problem with the platform….They’re not growing because other people [who are not on the platform] don’t know how to use it, which is pretty significant, it’s a huge marketing issue.”
That month, Twitter introduced a section it calls “Moments,” which is meant to be a news aggregator for the best and most timely information on Twitter. It also debuted a “Polls” feature, which encouraged more interaction among users. Previously, it added longer direct messages, self-service advertising for marketers and a more robust “buy” button.
To begin using the new feature, Twitter users can select “Show me the best Tweets first” within their timeline.