Twitter’s latest update features a new algorithm, giving the timeline a total transformation. Instead of chronological tweets, users will now see tweets sorted by importance at the top of their timeline. Users will no longer need to scroll through hundreds of tweets to find a specific message typically from a more popular account.
This notable change doesn’t mean the platform has totally lost the reverse-chronological feature. Users can choose which feature they want their timeline to display in their settings.
While there is a lot of excitement surrounding this new update, it’s understandable why some brands have mixed feelings. Advertising on Twitter has always cost less than other social platforms, but the new changes may make Twitter more “pay-to-play” than ever before.
Marketers aren’t fully aware of what criteria will be considered in this new algorithm, so the change does concern them. Until this feature is tested, no one knows if it will lock out all tweets other than the most compelling organic branded ones.
For the advertisers, the goal doesn’t change: brand recognition is the main focus.
If this new algorithm can achieve that, there’s no need to worry. We’ve seen a similar timeline update on Facebook that has been beneficial for brand awareness, so this could mean great things for organic reach.
In the upcoming weeks, the feature will become the default setting for the Twitter timeline, with the opt-out ability to still possible. From there, Twitter will see how users react to the changes – as they do with all updates.
With Twitter experiencing a stall in user growth (to the tune of zero in Q4 2015), it will be interesting to see if this new algorithm brings new life to the social platform.
What do you think about the timeline update? Will it help revitalize the platform or leave a bad taste for brands?
