Twitter is
digging one of its most important new features out of its settings and putting
it within easy reach. Twitter is now testing with a small number of iOS users a
homescreen button that lets you instantly switch from its algorithmic timeline
that shows the best tweets first but out of order to the old reverse
chronological feed that only shows people you follow — no tweets liked by
friends or other randomness.
Twitter had
previously buried this option in its settings. In mid-September, it fixed the
setting so it would only show a raw reverse chronological feed of tweets by
people you follow with nothing extra added, and promised a more easily
accessible design for the feature in the future. Now we have our first look at
it. A little Twitter sparkle icon in the top opens a menu where you can switch
between Top Tweets and Latest Tweets, plus a link to your content settings. It
would be even better if it was a one-tap toggle.
Twitter’s VP
of Product Kayvon Beykpour tweeted that “We want to make it easier to toggle
between seeing the latest tweets the top tweets. So we’re experimenting with
making this a top-level switch rather than buried in the settings. Feedback
welcome.. what do you think?”
Given the
backlash back in 2016 when Twitter started shifting to an algorithmically
sorted timeline based on what you engaged with, many users will probably think
this is great. Whether you’re trying to follow a sports game, a political
debate, breaking news, or are just glued to Twitter and want the ordering to
make more sense, there are plenty of reasons you might want to switch to
reverse chronological.
Sometimes you want to see the latest Tweets, first. We’re testing a way for you to make it easier to switch your timeline between the latest and top Tweets. Starting today, a small number of you will see this test on iOS. pic.twitter.com/7NHLDUjrIv— Twitter (@Twitter) October 31, 2018
Still,
Twitter’s apprehension to make the setting too accessible makes sense. Hardcore
users might prefer reverse chronological, but for most people who only open
Twitter a few times per day or week, that’d mean they’d likely miss the tweets
from their closest friends that could be drown out by the noise of everyone
else. Twitter’s user growth rate perked up after the shift to algorithmic.
We’ve asked
whether the setting reverts to the Top Tweets default when you close the app.
That might be frustrating to some expert users, but could prevent novice users
from accidentally getting stuck in reverse chronological and not knowing how to
switch back. The company tells the Media that it’s trying out several different
duration options for the setting based on user inactivity to see what works
best. For example, one version will revert the setting to the Top Tweets
default if they’re gone for a day. That method would make sure people who’ve
been inactive long enough to forget changing their timeline setting will get
the default back and not end up stuck in a chronological abyss.
If Twitter
gets the reversion to default situation figured out, the new button could make
the service much more flexible, thereby boosting usage. You could start
algorithmic in the morning or after a weekend away to see what you missed, then
quickly toggle to reverse chronological if something big happens or you’ll be
on it non-stop all day to get the real-time pulse of the world.
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