It’s (finally) here.
On Wednesday, February 15, Twitter announced through its support account that all users have officially been transferred to the latest version, “New New Twitter,” as it’s called on the web.
Compared to Facebook, whose changes often cause uproar and complete restructuring, New New Twitter requires a surprisingly minimal adjustment. In fact, I know users who didn’t realize that they had been upgraded at all.
The changes have been made in the interest of visual appeal. The navigational cues are essentially the same, but for those users who are having trouble adjusting Twitter has helpfully provided a New New Twitter mini tutorial.
Personally I’ve had the new version for several weeks and have found the new design less than life changing. The navigation has remained essentially the same, as has the overall appearance. The only alteration I noticed was the movement of the navigational bar to the left side of the screen. I’ve found it easier to navigate from the left side, and it is a welcome change.
My qualms about New New Twitter:
I haven’t found much use for the activity feed. The goings on of the accounts I follow are more of an interest I would exercise on Facebook. It seems like Twitter might be trying to encroach on its rival’s territory here. I’ve also noticed increased loading and refresh times. It’s not yet clear if this has been caused by New New Twitter, or if it’s just coincidence, but it seems to be a trend across the twitterverse.
Overall, New New Twitter has flown largely under the radar. As a social media giant Twitter isn’t afraid of losing users. While Facebook’s Timeline ruffled more than a few feathers, New New Twitter has received general praise among the social media community. It has developed a niche site and users will flock to it regardless of minor layout changes.
