Twitter says users can now easily flip between its algorithmically generated “Home” timeline as well as the feed of “Latest” tweets. To navigate between timelines, users would normally hit the “sparkle” icon at the top right of the screen, then tap it again to return. On iOS, tapping that icon now allows you to pin both the Home and Latest timelines to your Twitter home page, rather than having to swipe between them.
“We’re giving you the power to choose which tweets you see in your timeline: you can now quickly switch between the best ones for you or stay up to date on the latest conversations on Twitter.”
According to Twitter, the upgrade makes the option to see the latest tweets “more prominent and easier to use.” The Social Network claims it also minimises confusion by making it easy to recognise which timeline you’re on.
Twitter’s new update comes amid rising regulatory pressure on tech companies over their algorithmic recommendation systems and lack of transparency. Some US politicians have proposed legislation requiring tech companies to provide a version of their platforms that does not utilise user data to generate recommendations. As part of this bill, consumers will be able to disable the tech company’s suggestion algorithms if they so desire.
Instagram has since stated that it will bring back the chronological feed feature. In contrast, Twitter has been offering this option for some time, though many people may not have known about it. There is a good chance that this new update will not only make the feature simpler to find but will also make Twitter itself more user-friendly as well.
A “Latest” feed is also useful for breaking news situations when immediate information is more important than algorithmic suggestions of “best” items you may have missed. And during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, people are relying on social media apps to keep abreast of new headlines.
Twitter first began testing this feature officially in October. The company said it received positive feedback and decided to expand to more users.
At the moment, the feature is only available on iOS devices, but it will “soon” be made available on Android devices and the web. When pressed for a date, Twitter could only say it would be “in the coming weeks.”
Updated: 15th March 2022 (8:42am WAT)
On Monday, Twitter announced that it would revert this change, saying, “We’ve switched the timeline back and removed the tabbed experience for now while we explore other options”. The company took this decision because some users complained they couldn’t view tweets in chronological order. Some said they love Twitter for receiving the latest news or updates on issues, not necessarily the best tweets.
It might seem like Twitter has made another wrong decision but giving users control over the way the app or timeline looks is a great deal. Who knows, maybe Twitter took back the new update so it can rework and relaunch in the future?
