In a series of tweets, Twitter says it will start testing a “way to switch between a timeline of Tweets that are most relevant for you and a timeline of the latest Tweets.” In other words, Twitter finally got tired of all the complaining and is set to fix the problem.
For the past two years, Twitter has been fiddling with your feed: inserting tweets the company thinks you’re most interested in reading under titles like ” While you were away… ” or ” In case you missed it,” and putting a greater focus on news while pushing tweets other people have liked into your timeline (a feature already satisfied by retweeting).
But now, Twitter is planning to move the changes that have caused irritation for so many users on to a user-controlled option.
In a series of tweets, the company announced that it will start testing a “way to switch between a timeline of Tweets that are most relevant for you and a timeline of the latest Tweets.”
2/ We’ve learned that when showing the best Tweets first, people find Twitter more relevant and useful. However, we’ve heard feedback from people who at times prefer to see the most recent Tweets.
4/ So, we’re working on providing you with an easily accessible way to switch between a timeline of Tweets that are most relevant for you and a timeline of the latest Tweets. You’ll see us test this in the coming weeks.
6/ Our plan is to eventually replace this setting when the easier-to-access switch described above is available. We’ll keep you updated and are listening to your feedback – let us know what you think!
For many users, this will be a very welcome change. In the wake of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s appearance on Capitol Hill, the time-out and then banning of conservative conspiracy-theorist Alex Jones, and the general toxicity on the platform, it’s imperative that the company keeps its users happy now more than ever.
There’s also been a debate about the company’s political leanings, with people on both the left and the right arguing that Twitter is too sympathetic to the opposing side. Sitting solely in the middle of that debate is the question as to whether services including Twitter, Facebook, and Google should be subject to more government regulation given their monopolistic status.
While comparatively more mundane musings about redesigning the website, or testing unfollow recommendations might seem like minor issues in comparison to these web-altering discussions, it nevertheless shows how precarious the platform’s situation is.
Hopefully, this change will be the first step to Twitter getting back on track.
