How to enable the tweaked time line on Twitter?
Twitter is changing it's time line feature. The popular microblogging site has announced that it is launching an improved time line. Please note that the changes will be available to you only if you enable it. If you are still confused about the tweaks that have been incorporated, here we go with the information about the changes and what do they mean to you as an end user.
Twitter has come up with a tweak to its time line, a reordered timeline as Twitter loves to call it. It states that it will not be a chronological time line as you have been seeing so far. However, there won't be many drastic differences though. And also if you are into Twitter via third party clients like Talon or TweetDeck, your experience will not change.
In the following paragraphs, we will get a complete view of the changes that will take place, and how to handle them. The Changes
If you are a regular user on Twitter, you already now how it works. So far you have been used to the tweets of your friends and those whom you follow in a chronological order. Newest tweets appear at the top. The sequence is now going to change. And that's what's new in the new tweaked timeline.
The change will bring those tweets which Twitter deems as being important to the prominence. They will now be shown on top. Even if they are older, you will still see them on top. All other tweets - the regular ones - will follow the chronological order. Put in other words, some tweets will now show up on very top of the timeline. The most important ones that were tweeted when you were away will now appear on top - irrespective of when we're they tweeted. This is being done to drive your attention to the tweets that came up when you were away. It is more akin to the While you were away feature that was introduced by Twitter around a year ago.How will Twitter decide which tweets are important?
Twitter says it will pin " tweets you are more likely to care about most"
Twitter has not revealed the exact algorithm, or methodology it will be using to arrive at the "important" tweets. It has been stated that it will be dependent on various factors such as the kind of tweets you normally interact with and the profiles you interact most with. Twitter has assured that there will not be any sponsored tweet on top. They will entirely be based on the accounts you are following.
Only those tweets that Twitter consider important from your point of view will appear at the top. It will be on per user basis. If you tend to follow a lot of cine stars, you will get such sort of tweets at the top. As Michelle Haq, the product manager handling timeline says, '" ...We are just organising them at the top....The main proposition is to make sure you never miss anything important.."
So it will mean older tweets coming up at the top. Maybe even the ones you have already interacted with. But how many of them? That again, will depend on what kind of a Twitter fan you are. If you follow a wider range (and number) of Twitter users, that will mean you will have widely different experience than the ones who follow just a few. A regular Twitter user should see quite a dozen of highlighted tweets on the top. The "important" tweets themselves be in a chronological order, followed by rest of the regular timeline.Can I disable it?
Well, definitely. Twitter is not forcing you to adapt to the changes. The new tweaked timeline will be introduced as an option on Android and iOS apps along with the web version of the service. When it is launched for your account, it will be enabled by default. Twitter will notify you about the implementation via a notification.
But, the best part is that you can disable it. Head into the settings and look for Show me the best tweets first option. That is exactly where you can disable it. If you want to try it again anytime later, go into the same path and enable it. However, Twitter has been expecting that the users will not disable it.
That means the new timeline has been introduced as an option, not a forceful changeover. And it only be available on native Android and iOS apps and the Web portal of Twitter. Third party clients won't have the feature. And yes, even when you have enabled it, refreshing your timeline will bring you back to the same old chronological timeline you have always been used to.Why has this change been introduced?
Reasons could be many. Even so long years existence has not made Twitter an easy proposition. New users are always baffled with its continuous flow of information unlike Facebook. The newcomers have always complained about it being incomprehensible. The changes have been to make it easy for the newer generation to understand the service better.
The current changes - not to forget the While you were away feature launched in 2015 - have been in the direction of making Twitter more easy to grasp and get used to. This is will mean increased accessibility of the popular microblogging site. Besides, the investors and advertisers have been pressuring Twitter to be more user friendly for the members, especially new members. It was indeed this pressure that has been instrumental in making these changes. And in conclusion....
Well, you may or may not like it, but it is a clear indication that Twitter has been evolving. Hopefully, it will not imitate Facebook and retains the functionality that has always been unique to Twitter. Over the years, we have always seen Twitter been evolving too slowly. It is good to see the changes coming up. If you like it, so be it. If you don't, you can always go back to what you have always loved. So just go ahead, and feel the new experience. And do not forget to come back here and share your experience.
Follow 