Twitter has been set a-blaze by the news that the company might scrap the traditional reverse chronological timeline and replace it with tweets served up based on an algorithm, similar to how Facebook shows Top Stories in the form of relevant posts. To learn more about the Twitter freakout go read
this article on Mashable and then come back here for me to tell you how Twitter can make this a win.
I will start right off by saying how much I HATE the Facebook algorithm method of serving up stories. I automatically change the delivery method to Most Recent posts. I want to see whats going on right now, not what happened 16 hours ago. So I guess I'm hesitant to see Twitter make a move like this. However, there is a major difference between Twitter and Facebook. On Facebook, I have slightly more than 300 friends that might post an average of once per day, and I can get a pretty quick synopsis of whats going on by scrolling through the most recent posts. On Twitter, I follow over 1000 accounts, tweeting an average of 5-10 times per day. I need a better system of seeing whats happening than having to scroll through hundreds or even thousands of tweets.
Here's how Twitter can do this successfully. First, make it EASY to get to the most recent tweets. Don't make it so I have to click three different links to get to the setting. Put a nice big button right on the top of the app.
Second, make that algorithm serve up posts that are really relevant to me. I want to know whats popular among my followers, but not really from yesterday. Twitter for me is about what's happening now. And I don't mind seeing some ads in there either.
Finally Twitter, make it easier to build Lists. I feel like making a twitter list (or a Facebook list even) is too difficult. Give me suggested lists based on my followers and the subjects they tweet about. Then serve me up the best related tweets in those lists with a few relevant ads sprinkled in. Replace the stupid Moments tab with this feature. Honestly, have you clicked on Twitter Moments other than the one time you did it by accident?
I love you Twitter, and I know that you have to change or die. So if you're going to change, use this opportunity to create a superior user experience than other social platforms that are out there.
Follow me on Twitter
@jasonpclay and let me know how YOU want Twitter move forward.