Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: ‘No new timeline next week’
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been trying to reassure users of the microblogging site after the negative reaction from the community to the possible new timelines. He assures users that Twitter will remain live and real-time and that the new feeds will not be implemented yet.
Dorsey posted a on Saturday night series Tweets in which he addressed the community. Although he promises that Twitter will not abandon the live feed aspect, he does not report anything concrete. He makes the comparison with the ‘while you were away’ function and emphasizes that although it offers non-chronological content, it is easy to remove with a pulldown. He also denies Saturday’s news: “We never planned to adjust the timelines in the coming week.” There is no further information from an official source about the changes to the Twitter timelines.
I *love* real time. We love the live stream. It’s us. And we’re going to continue to refine it to make Twitter feel more, not less, live!
— Jack (@jack) February 6, 2016
At the same time, The Verge says it has been in contact with two members of the test group of the new timelines. Their stories about the new timelines seem to tie in with Dorsey’s statements. Indeed, the new feed would be a more comprehensive implementation of “while you were away,” where an algorithm finds out which recent tweets are most worthy of the user’s attention. Users can also skip the non-chronological feed at any time with a pulldown, after which the familiar reverse-chronological timeline reappears. In addition, there would simply be the option of an opt-out.
The testers interviewed by The Verge have mixed feelings about the new timeline. On the one hand, they say that indeed the more interesting tweets are easier to find, and on the other hand “it feels like a step away from the whole idea behind Twitter” and live events are “very hard to follow in the new timeline”.
In recent months, Twitter announced that the microblogging site is struggling to keep up with the flow of new users. Adjustments to the service timeline is one of several ideas the company is working on to turn the tide. In addition, the service has already lifted the 140-character limit for DMs and there is a chance that the same will apply to tweets.