A new Twitter Timeline feature is spreading its wings today that will show popular Tweets you’ve missed. Kind of like the “While you were away” feature from a year ago, this new Timeline will show conversations from the “best Tweets from people you follow” after you’ve been away from Twitter for a while.
Want to try it out on desktop? Just go into your Settings, go to the Timeline section, and check “Show me the best Tweets first.”
On iOS, go into Settings, Timeline, Timeline Personalization, then “Show me the best Tweets first.”
On Android, go to Settings, Timeline, and—you guessed it, “Show me the best Tweets first.”
If you don’t see it, or don’t see the Timeline section at all, have patience. Twitter says they’ll be rolling it out gradually, so just keep checking in. A notification should appear on your timeline when it shows up.
The new Twitter Timeline feature will appear at the top of your timeline in reverse chronological order, with the rest of your Tweets appearing underneath as usual.
“Why the Change? The Twitter Timeline Was Fine as It Was!”
This new feature was announced a while ago, and it’s already riling up the coop.
Although Twitter reports seeing more Retweets and Tweets from users who are already using this feature, many users are resistant to the change. We saw, and still see, a similar reaction when Facebook began sorting statuses by popularity, rather than chronology.
Twitter is trying to make the best free product they can, and one that remains the most useful for their users. Getting users up to speed without having to sift through the thousands of people they follow seems useful. But for those who don’t want to miss a thing, this feature just seems unnecessary.
What about for SEO? Well, social media remains a useful tool for businesses. This new feature is just one more thing to get used to.
“Is the Twitter I Know Gone for Good?”
Nope! As far as we know, the new Twitter timeline will be optional. Twitter says they’ll be turning the feature on all accounts in the “coming weeks,” but you can turn it off if you don’t like it. They recommend you give them feedback first.
We’ll see if this new feature has wings in the weeks to come.
Starting today you can choose to try our new feature, so you'll never miss important Tweets from people you follow: https://t.co/fS1axkDiUh
— Twitter (@twitter) February 10, 2016