Starting today, you can discover the best of Twitter in a weekly email digest delivered to your inbox. This summary features the most relevant Tweets and stories shared by the people you’re connected to on Twitter.

Stories feature a design similar to the recently updated Discover tab, emphasizing who shared each story beneath summaries to help you decide which ones matter most to you. Click any headline to finish reading the story, add your take by tweeting directly from the email, and see related Tweets from the people you follow.


This new email digest also features the most engaging Tweets seen by the people you follow, even if you don’t follow those who wrote them. You can see who from your network retweeted or favorited these Tweets and click “View details” to retweet, favorite, reply or view the conversation around them.

We’re rolling out this new email out to everyone over the next few weeks, so keep checking your inbox for new messages from Twitter. Like other Twitter email notifications, you can manage your preferences for this new digest in your Notification Settings.

-Othman Laraki, Director, Growth and International (@othman)

Officially, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May in the U.S. Of course, all year long, Twitter is filled with love and appreciation (and, of course, a little humor) for our moms. Here are some of our favorite moments of mom shared on Twitter the other 364 days of the year.

Even though her comedy is often inspired by her family life, Mindy Kaling shared a sincere perspective on her relationship with her mom:

The best time in my life started when I realized my mom could also my best friend.

— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) April 26, 2011

Justin Bieber tweeted about the gift he’ll be giving his mom, and when his fans can get it too:

like i said on @mtv im gonna release the song i wrote for my mom #TurnToYou end of this week for Mother's Day to raise money for charity

— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 7, 2012

Creator and star of HBO’s “Girls,” Lena Dunham lets us in on the rapport she and her mom share:

An email from my mom contains the phrase "she very annoyed me." I just love her so much sometimes it gives me an ache.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) December 2, 2011

Twitter isn’t just a place to come to talk about your mom: it’s also a place to come to talk to your mom. Families use Twitter to keep in touch, and share their affection.

When actor Neil Patrick Harris posted a picture of his new twins, a very proud mother and grandmother quickly replied:

@ActuallyNPH wow. Those are the cutest children, well, among the top four children I've ever seen. s/ Mamaw

— Sheila Scott Harris (@gladsheila) March 17, 2012

After publishing her first book, Katherine Schwarzenegger shared her appreciation for the support from her mom, Maria Shriver, perhaps not coincidentally a public figure and best-selling author:

“@mariashriver: Amazing journey, Katherine. So proud of you. You are a gift from God.” best mommy ever!

— K Schwarzenegger (@KSchwarzenegger) April 27, 2012

What’s the secret to center-fielder Matt Kemp’s great start with the Dodgers this year? Maybe it’s the workout encouragement he and his mom share with each other:

Becuz ur a beast!!! RT @dodger27mom: @dodger27mom: cardio for 1.5 hrs on leg day wit squats sucks! Remind me why I do this please?

— Matt Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp) December 9, 2011

@dodger27mom: takes one to know one!!!!! RT@TheRealMattKemp: @TheRealMattKemp: Becuz ur a beast!!!

— Judy Henderson (@dodger27mom) December 9, 2011

Today, share your own mom memories and moments on Twitter. But flowers are still a good idea too.

We have a couple of moments to share with you this week of things that happened #OnlyOnTwitter. Two of our stories this week are about announcements. In one, Twitter was the platform of choice for hundreds of thousands of people to express their views on President Obama’s decision to support gay marriage. In another, Twitter was the creative canvas upon which The Atlantic drew a graphic. And then, just for fun, did you know that Salman Rushdie follows Molly Ringwald? He does.

On Wednesday, President Obama expressed his support for gay marriage during a taped television interview. He quickly shared the news on Twitter, driving the conversation to its highest levels:

"Same-sex couples should be able to get married."—President Obama

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 9, 2012

Gay marriage conversation peaked at 7,347 Tweets per minute at 3:22p ET yesterday. CHART: twitter.com/gov/status/200…

— Twitter Government (@gov) May 10, 2012

Elected officials from both sides of the aisle also turned to Twitter to voice their opinions about Obama’s announcement:

Historic day for justice and equality. Our United States President Obama endorses marriage equality. I rejoice in this announcement.

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 9, 2012

“Glad Pres finally laid out position to American ppl, but changing def of marriage isn't something I can support" ow.ly/aOaXy...

— Senator Hatch Office (@SenOrrinHatch) May 9, 2012

While our @gov team tweeted their data about the gay marriage conversation via an embedded image, The Atlantic’s new business site “Quartz” turned their Tweets into infographics about cellphone usage:

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ Macao: 2.06

— Quartz (@quartznews) May 8, 2012

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ Cayman Islands: 1.78

— Quartz (@quartznews) May 8, 2012

Finally, it’s always fascinating to see how Twitter can bring people together. This week, a writer in New York casually noted that author @SalmanRushdie is following actress @MollyRingwald -- and was in for a bit of a surprise when they both responded:

I love that @SalmanRushdie is following @MollyRingwald. What a weird world we live in.

— paulabernstein (@paulabernstein) May 8, 2012

.@MollyRingwald @paulabernstein That goes for me too.

— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) May 8, 2012

Posted by Andrew Fitzgerald, Manager, Editorial Programming (@magicandrew)

Today we’re updating Twitter for mobile web (mobile.twitter.com) in an effort to give every person on the planet a consistent Twitter experience. People who access Twitter from feature phones, low-bandwidth networks or older browsers can now enjoy the new version of Twitter we introduced in December.


In this updated version of mobile.twitter.com, you can see all the Tweets from the accounts you follow in the Home tab and check your @mentions in the Connect tab. You can see what’s trending in the Discover tab, and access your direct messages and Tweets in the Me tab.

Like Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android, mobile.twitter.com is fast, like a native mobile app; it uses one-third less bandwidth than the previous iteration. We’re rolling out this new mobile web experience starting today, and will continue to make Twitter the most accessible way to connect with the world, even with the weakest signals and the simplest devices.

- Satya Patel, VP of Product (@satyap)

We talk a lot about how Twitter is an amazing real-time platform. The news of the hour, delivered to you within seconds. But while Twitter is always bringing us closer to the present, sometimes our Tweets are a way of looking back to the past. This week’s #OnlyOnTwitter is about looking backwards. We’ve collected musicians’ memories of MCA. We also have a short Twitter essay remembering NFL linebacker Junior Seau. And we have a project developed by NBC LA to live-tweet the Los Angeles riots from 20 years later. All examples of Twitter’s power to make you a part of a global, collective history. And to bring you closer not just to the present, but to the past as well.

Today we were heartbroken to see the news that Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away. The news was shared via Tweets, passed around the world by fans whose lives had been touched by his work. And shortly thereafter came the memories— Tweets about listening to the Beastie Boys, Tweets about meeting “MCA”, Tweets about the impact his music had on all of music that followed. A flow of Tweets in which we were all sharing what this man meant to us as individuals, collectively.

I think this is something important about Twitter. On Twitter our individual memories become a collective history that is more powerful, more meaningful and more instructive than ever before.

RIP MCA
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away this Friday. Across Twitter, musicians celebrated his work and remembered his impact on their lives and careers.

Remembering Junior Seau
After the suicide of Chargers linebacker Junior Seau, NFL player Eric Olsen remembered him on Twitter.

Re-living the Los Angeles riots
Twenty years ago LA erupted in a firestorm of riots after the Rodney King verdict. This year, NBC LA set up an account to tweet out updates from twenty years ago, exactly how and when they happened. These are excerpts from the first night of rioting.

In order to offer you the simplest and most engaging Twitter experience, we frequently test hundreds of variations of new features and designs with small groups of users. We test everything from subtle tweaks in the language of our sign-up pages and removing the search box from our homepage to big shifts in navigation elements. These experiments help us understand what experiences people like best or use most often. When an experiment ends, we study the results and roll out the most successful variation to everyone as soon as we can.

After recent experimentation, we introduced a slight redesign to every Tweet that flows through your timeline on Twitter.com. A Tweet may be our basic unit of communication, but it also contains a universe: each one has an identity with a username, real name and avatar; a 140-character message that includes text as well as metadata like time and language; some context (replies, favorites and retweets of that Tweet), and perhaps media (photos, videos or links).

Now, when you hover over the newly-redesigned Tweet, you'll always see options to reply, favorite or retweet in the lower-left corner against a grey background.


If the Tweet contains media, you’ll also see specific options like “View photo” or “View video”; otherwise, you’ll see the option to “Expand”. You can expand any Tweet in your timeline to see inline context like favorites or retweets from other people, or additional Tweets from that same conversation. You can also click on any Tweet’s timestamp or “Details” to see that Tweet’s permalink, the unique web page for that Tweet.

We made these changes because this iteration showed a significant increase in engagement, the highest of all the implementations during our experiment. We hope you like this change, which we think makes all of the possible ways to interact with a Tweet more clear. Even more, we hope you don’t mind our ongoing experiments. We’re always curious to find new ways to delight you, and to improve your Twitter experience.

- Othman Laraki, Director (@othman)

There are phrases whose origins fade in the rush of time, and “water cooler moment” is one of those. Apparently first cited c. 1999, it meant a prime-time TV moment that co-workers discussed the next day at the office (presumably with small pointed paper cups in hand).

Flipping forward, Twitter has been increasingly invoked as creating such “must-see” moments for a newer world — in real time, no waiting. This week, on NPR’s flagship show, “All Things Considered,” (@npratc) interviewed former NBC President Warren Littlefield, who reigned during the network’s "Must-See TV" heyday. His new book details that era, and he bemoans the loss of those “water cooler moments” in our multi-channel multiverse where we’re madly and asynchronously watching stuff constantly.

Host Audie Cornish (@nprAudie) felt bemoaning was not in order:

“When I'm watching the Oscars, and everyone is on Twitter…I do feel like I'm having a communal experience with the show — in some cases enjoying it more, because you're having the water cooler conversation at that moment."

"Absolutely. I agree with that", said Mr. L., known on Twitter as @TopOfTheRock_WL.

We’re glad he concurs that Twitter has elevated the water cooler experience into the very fabric of shows. Others are noting this too. Today’s USA Today story quotes Greg Kahn, EVP of Optimedia: “The water cooler used to be the next day, now it's while the show is going on."

And as Philadelphia Inquirer TV critic Ellen Gray (@elgray) notes, Twitter isn’t just for viewers, either: TV showrunners and writers are on Twitter to gauge viewer feedback and try out new material.

This new wave of “Twitter TV” has given us a real driveway moment, as NPR might say — one that’s neatly summed up by Daniel Block (@spacemonkey95):

“So Twitter is the new water-cooler. … Twitter enables a truly communal viewing experience. Like never before it is possible to share a televisual experience with other viewers across the nation. I know of some people who sometimes choose to watch a programme broadcast live, rather than on a catch-up service later, because they want to "join in" on Twitter.”

- Chloe Sladden, VP, Media (@ChloeS)

The Discover tab makes it easy to discover information that matters to you without having to follow additional accounts. Starting today, the Discover tab will begin to surface content that is even more personalized and meaningful to you. We’ve incorporated additional personalization signals to select Discover stories, including Tweets that are popular among the people you follow and the folks they follow.

The Discover tab’s new design shows who tweeted about particular stories. You can click “View Tweets" on any story to see popular Tweets from your network or recent, relevant Tweets directly below the story summary. This social context helps you understand why each story matters to you and makes it easier to join the conversation. You can reply, retweet or favorite these Tweets, or you can “Tweet this story” to share your own perspective.


Over the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out this redesigned and more personalized Discover experience on Twitter.com, iPhone and Android. This update is part of our ongoing development of Discover; we will continue to work to make discovery on Twitter a magical experience that brings you instantly closer to the information that matters most to you at the right time, any time.

- Satya Patel, VP of Product (@satyap)

Last night’s Latin Billboard Awards proved to be a big night for Latin music’s hottest artists, and for fans on Twitter. The conversation really took off on Twitter, both in Spanish and English -- there were nearly half a million Tweets about the show, which was more than double last year’s volume. Fans particularly turned to Twitter to share their reactions when Don Omar and Maná won trophies, and during Marc Anthony’s Premio Salon de la Fama award tribute, sending thousands of Tweets during those moments.

Before the show started, folks behind the scenes were sharing pictures of the stars as they walked the red carpet:

Fashion cam #billboards @sensato @pitbull @dreateamagency instagr.am/p/J6QB8jDeF0/

— Susan Stipcianos (@DreamTeamSusan) April 27, 2012

A lucky fan in Miami for the Billboards shared the view from her seat during one of the performances:

#Favorite performance of the night!! #Billboards2012 @gerardoortiznet twitter.com/YAREL_RAMOS/st…

— Yarel Ramos (@YAREL_RAMOS) April 27, 2012

Right after taking home an incredible 8 awards, Prince Royce took his acceptance speech to Twitter and made sure to thank his fans around the world:
Prince Royce made sure to thank all his fans:

8 awards @LatinBillboards!!! I am so grateful for all of you guys, my fans!!! Without you this is not possible!! What a night!

— Prince Royce (@PlanetRoyce) April 27, 2012

The team at Trendrr also followed the Latin Billboards closely, and pulled together this infographic showing the way the show played out on Twitter, which you can check out here.

Whether you’re a Latin music lover, an aspiring electronic music producer, or want to re-live rock’s most memorable moments, Twitter is the place for music fans to connect with their favorite artists.

If you post to Twitter, you’re a writer in your own right. While you may not be writing novels, you’re telling your own stories 140 characters at a time. This week on #OnlyOnTwitter we have a number of posts about writers and writing. From authorial Twitter takeovers to crowdsourcing speechwriting to a Twitter staging of a play— it’s everything from 140 characters to 140,000 words in this week’s edition of #OnlyOnTwitter.

Susan Orlean’s crowdsourced commencement speech
Stumped on a commencement speech, author Susan Orlean asked her Twitter followers for help...and tried out a few ideas on them, too.

Anna Quindlen takes @atRandom on tour
Author Anna Quindlen is currently promoting her new book Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. She took over her publisher’s Twitter account to document one manic day in the life of an author on her book tour.

"Glengarry Glen Ross" Twitter Bot Theater
In a new experiment in the performing arts, Twitter Bot Theater reenacted the movie adaptation of the famous David Mamet play, "Glengarry Glen Ross", by having automated accounts tweet the play line-by-line. Here’s a bit of the scene with Blake, played in the film by Alec Baldwin and played here by @theBlake970. (Don't worry, we picked one of the lines that's not profanity-laden.)

#DontDoubleMyRate
The White House is encouraging Congress to prevent an increase in federal student loan rates— and they deployed a new hashtag to do it. With #DontDoubleMyRate, the White House has encouraged students and college grads to tweet their support. It’s been a pretty successful campaign, helped significantly by the President’s appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

You missed Zac Efron’s party
Actor Zac Efron held a fan chat to promote his new movie "The Lucky One". One unlucky fan wanted to throw a party at Zac’s house and found out he might have missed the boat.

A Twitter-powered game of catch
Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeffrey Guthrie was looking for a throwing partner on a lunch break. Local fan and cancer survivor Woody Roseland just happened to have some free time and a glove.