Contents
Twitter’s New Layout
Last Update
Twitter has largely remained the same for well over 7 years, and while some liked that, the company has struggled with user growth ever since. The problem was (and still is) that Twitter had a reputation for being the platform where famous people and politicians discussed their problems, without much of a chance for normal folks to join the conversation or say something.
That idea is the exact opposite of what Twitter is. The platform itself is probably the only place where you can actually drive engagement by commenting on other tweets. Have you ever tried commenting on Instagram? Yeah, that’s useless. And even Facebook has lost its charm overtime when it comes to user interaction. Now, Twitter’s redesign aims to change its very own perception.
But how? By making things easier to use. Big, bold icons throughout the interface, interesting buttons, round elements. This is the new Twitter that legacy users have been avoiding, and yet it’s here to stay. In fact, while Twitter is rolling out the new design in a global environment, users are not able to go back to the legacy interface, blocking them from enjoying the older layout.
This has caused some outrage in the community, but as with anything tech-related goes, there’s not much that normal users can do about it. Change happens on a constant basis in the tech industry, and we believe that Twitter was able to bring some interesting cards to the table. Want to find out more about Twitter’s redesigned features? Stick around until the end of the article!
Twitter’s Redesign is a Better Overall Product
While some may complain about big or small design changes, Twitter’s redesign is admittedly a better overall product. That’s because it adds things like instant multi-account switching, a much-needed feature for businesses and solopreneurs alike. On top of that, it offers an enhanced direct message view that’s totally awesome compared to the previous, lackluster version.
Big sidebar on the left with clear, bold icons, and trending topics on the right. This redesign really focuses on simplicity of use, because it shows everything you need to know about the world at a glance. If you want to learn more about that specific trend that’s going on, head over onto the right sidebar. If you want to explore top trending hashtags instead, you can find the explore section at the top of the left sidebar. It really is that easy to use, which is fairly refreshing.
Twitter is clearly going after young people with this move. In a world where Instagram (which, by the way, is a Facebook product) dominates user growth and retention rates, Twitter is left to its own little bubble that will eventually burst if not taken care of. That’s why three Twitter designers have bet big on increasing twitter followers with this new solution that they think will bring intuitive sense to the platform.
The Main Features of Twitter’s Big Redesign
Twitter’s redesign is important for a number of reasons. It makes it easier to navigate the platform, it makes it more immediate to see what’s going on in the world at the moment, and it clearly shows all the settings you might need in a day-to-day life scenario. Some of the best redesigned features are:
- Notifications; now bolder and easier to get around
- Explore section; extremely intuitive and personalized to you
- Direct messages; with clearer bubbles and a few added media options
- Bookmarks; an amazing way to save all your favorite tweets and media files
- Lists; the equivalent of Facebook groups, but much less popular and underrated
Overall, these features have all been slightly improved via the redesign, except maybe lists which have largely remained the same. One thing to note is that the “Moments” feature was pushed back into the “More” button, indicating that users weren’t using it all that much. In all of this, we think the best feature of the redesign remains the fact that exploring trends is much easier now.
After all, Twitter is the place where things are reported live, and getting to understand specific issues in the moment is crucial to some businesses. Information has never been so immediate on the internet. It is also worth noting that Twitter has added various customization options such as a dim (dark) mode and what’s otherwise called a “Lights Out” mode, which is basically pitch-black.
Twitter Ads and Analytics Remain Unchanged
The redesign hasn’t affected Twitter Ads, or any of the analytics tools that Twitter offers. In fact, the entire experience of serving your advertisements within the Twitter interface remains largely the same. This goes to show that Twitter wants users on the front-end to feel like they are getting into a fresh experience while keeping the same, in-depth experience for users in the backend.
When these redesigns come around, advertisers and marketers usually have to deal with small reformatting issues and a good deal of added work. In this case, there isn’t much that social media marketers need to do in order to keep their operation steady. Today, the focus is mostly on threads, and how to convince people your company is worth constantly looking at.
When Mobile and Desktop Design Come Together
Twitter’s desktop redesign is very similar to the mobile app, with a few caveats. The mobile design still shows features like moments in the sidebar, while the desktop one doesn’t anymore. Apart from that though, the similarity is intentional. Twitter wants to drive users back to its platform and make sure that they have a consistent experience throughout devices. It’s a well-thought-through implementation that clearly wins the heart of younger folks looking for smoother interactions.
The search box on the desktop version now shows you five different tabs:
- The top trending keywords and topics of today
- The latest news and insights from people that you follow
- A “people” tab that allows you to look for specific accounts
- A “photos” tab that shows the best pictures around a certain topic
- A “videos” tab that does the same thing, but with videos
This layout isn’t found on mobile yet, but Twitter says that everything will match in the coming months. They’re even creating a fully custom version of Twitter for Mac! Gone are the days of third-party apps like Tweetbot that would allow you to automate tweets and use a different interface for the platform itself. Now Twitter is focusing on one single solution for everybody.
If you’re an advertiser, or if you simply want to understand more about how Twitter can drive engagement for your business, then you should definitely try and understand what kind of users are going to end up using Twitter thanks to this redesign. Since it is a much better experience compared to what it was before, it’ll be likely that older and younger people sign up and start using the platform. In the political turmoil of today, people might want to weigh in as well.
The Key Takeaways of Twitter’s 2019 Redesign
Twitter has been focusing a lot on healthy conversations, trying to monitor and avoid toxic relations on the platform as much as possible. Surely, it’s not easy to control such a large-scale operation, but users have been requesting features that Twitter just won’t build for some reason… Things like edit buttons for tweets, more ways to serve media, and less of a focus on the “nazi” situation have all been addressed by fans and users. Yet Twitter is kind of slow at what they do.
That’s why this redesign is such a big deal. Not only is it a renewed opportunity for businesses of any size to gather data and profit from Twitter’s analytics, but it’s also a way to offer something different, something new to your audience. Certainly, Twitter has gone to great lengths in making sure that its redesign could appeal to as many users as possible, and we think they’ve succeeded.
Social media marketing today is much different than what it was, say, five years ago. It’s a lot more about building online communities rather than creating specific content that drives engagement forward. And while engagement still is rather important, user retention becomes the key factor when we consider a more consolidated, less growth-focused social media environment.
We truly hope that you enjoyed this article and that you learned more about how Twitter’s big redesign can help you achieve the results you’re looking for. Make sure to write a comment if you are interested in joining the conversation. We’ll be more than glad to listen in on your feedback and give you an appropriate answer. Until then, enjoy your new, fresh Twitter experience!
