Twitter has started rolling out a new TikTok-esque For You page that will show suggested tweets first, rather than tweets from people you follow in reverse chronological order.
While the social media site had previously offered “Home” and “Latest Tweets” feeds that users could switch between by tapping the a star icon in the top right, the new design takes a page straight out of TikTok’s design book.
The For You page will open first and then users can swipe back-and-forth between the For You and Following page.
The “For you” and “Following” tabs replace “Home” and “Latest” and will be pinned to the top of your timeline so you can easily switch between them. Swipe to switch timelines instead of tapping the ✨ icon.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 11, 2023
However, unlike the previous Home and Latest Tweets layout, the app does not remember which page the user last opened and automatically reverts to the For You page upon reopening the app.
This change, which might not play well with users, will likely be popular with advertisers. TikTok, for example, almost always displays an advert as the first post a user sees upon opening the app. With Twitter’s declining ad revenues, it seems as though this small change might have a significant impact on impressions.
The new design also goes halfway to making good on a promise from Twitter CEO Elon Musk — a true rarity.
On 20 December, the South African businessman tweeted: “Main timeline should allow for an easy sideways swipe between top, latest, trending and topics that you follow.” He said that the company would be “making this change soon.”
Of course, the change isn’t fully complete yet but at least Twitter has got the ball rolling.
