Twitter Follows the Trend of Social Networking Site Changes

In 2011, we saw trusted Social Media sites make significant changes. Last spring LinkedIn changed the user Home page to resemble Facebook with photos from trending articles gracing the top of the page. Over the summer, just a few months later, the LinkedIn user Profile page and Events pages received a face-lift.

In June, there was the emergence of Google+. While some of the functionality resembled Facebook, we were given “Circles” and “Hangouts” as the new coveted thing-to-do while chatting up friends and family.

Subsequently, in mid-summer, Facebook changed the look of it’s Home Page and just in case you didn’t know, December 15th marks the end of an era. The “sunsetting” of Facebook insights as we know it. The changes reflect a shift from an emphasis on Like’s and Comments to Reach and Impressions. More on that next week.

As if that were not enough … YouTube Channels, have also been updated. The Internet has been buzzing over the last couple of weeks about the Profile Page changes, including the new arrangement of YouTube Channel subscriptions, Home Page personalization, and Channel Comments. If you haven’t seen it, you better take a look to make sure you understand the changes, for both your business and your client’s businesses if you are Social Media marketing agency.

This trend toward change is not slowing down. On December 8th Twitter announced yet another new version of Twitter was on its way. Currently, 21 of Twitter’s advertising partners have already received the first wave of changes. Over the next few weeks the changes will continue to roll out to the entire Twitter family. These changes allow the Social Media giant to truly challenge Facebook for the first time. For more details about the change check out Twitter’s blog post, “Let’s Fly.”

An article in the Business Insider outlined three key motivations behinds Twitter’s change:

Expose the “universe within every tweet.” Tweets aren’t just 140 characters — there’s also context like retweets and replies, and embedded content like videos, images, and songs. Today, accessing this material still feels like opening a “side drawer,” said Costolo.
Make Twitter less obscure to use. Today, the @ and # symbols are too obscure — people don’t know what they mean. This contributes to a lot of people visiting Twitter but not really participating actively. The redesign surfaces these symbols and makes them the gateway to find out more information about people and topics on the surface.
Share it with everybody. The world has 7 billion people. Most of those people are “not yet on Twitter,” said Costolo. The redesign will roll out to mobile devices simultaneously, and is streamlined to load up to 500% faster.

To learn more about the changes referenced in the Business Insider article, read “Twitter Just Fired a Cannonball at Facebook and Google+” and watch Twitter’s official promotional video. Spoiler alert!!!! The most significant Twitter changes include: enhanced profile pages and embeddable tweets.

Looking for Social Media Training? Contact Project Socialize to learn how you can stay on-top of changing Social Media technology by attending our many training programs.

By Nikki Means, CEO