Twitter might be planning to introduce an algorithmic timeline as soon as next week. However, it is unclear whether Twitter will force users to use the algorithmic feed, or it will merely be an option.
Ever since Twitter first launched, tweets have been organized in reverse chronological order. That’s one of the more straightforward aspects of a service that’s become too complicated through the years. But now, Twitter is preparing to drastically change how users experience the timeline.
The timeline will reorder tweets based on what Twitter’s algorithm thinks people most want to see, a departure from the current feed’s reverse chronological order.
In 2014, CFO Anthony Noto said displaying tweets in reverse chronological order “isn’t the most relevant experience for a user.” And in reference to last year’s tests, a spokesperson said, “We’re continuing to explore ways to surface the best content for people using Twitter.”
Yet, Jack Dorsey, who took the reins of Twitter as permanent CEO in October, has expressed a willingness to rethink the platform’s core tenets. “We continue to show a questioning of our fundamentals in order to make the product easier and more accessible to more people,” he said in July.
In November, the company killed off the traditional term favorites and replaced it with likes. An algorithmic feed would be, to date, the boldest change so far under Dorsey. Also being rethought: Twitter’s 140 character limit, which seems headed for an end as well.
Twitter has been testing the algorithmic timeline with a small group of users. It appears the test went well enough to roll it out more broadly.
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