Coming soon to Twitter

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Everything that happens in the world happens on Twitter, and we’re constantly working to make it easier to create, share, consume and connect to what’s happening right now – whenever and however it’s most convenient for you.

This morning, I had the opportunity to present our plan to deliver on that at our Analyst Day conference. I want to take a moment to share our vision with you and offer some insight into product improvements we’re bringing to Twitter in the coming months.

Earlier this year, we set out to make Tweets richer and more engaging, giving users more ways to Tweet beyond text. We brought videos, Vines and GIFs into the home timeline, and introduced features that let you post multiple photos, tag people in photos and express yourself using emojis. To showcase all of this media, we launched a new profile design. We also introduced a new way for partners to share premium video and audio on Twitter, so you can preview and play with just one tap.

But aside from just watching video more easily on Twitter, you should be able to record, edit and share your own videos natively on Twitter too. Alongside short looping Vine videos, we think you’ll have fun sharing what’s happening in your world through native video. You can expect to see this in the first half of next year.

Right now, what you see of the 500 million Tweets published every day is based entirely on who you follow, and that’s a great model for many people. But with that many Tweets every day, there’s no way even the most avid Twitter user will find everything that’s relevant to their interests in any particular moment. That’s why we’re exploring ways to surface relevant Tweets so the content that is interesting to you is easy to discover – whether you stay on Twitter all day or visit for a few minutes – while still preserving the real-time nature of the platform that makes Twitter special.

For instance, we’re experimenting with better ways to give you what you come to Twitter for: a snapshot of what’s happening. We can use information like who you follow and what you engage with to surface highlights of what you missed and show those to you as soon as you log back in or come back to the app.

We’re also working on ideas such as an instant, personalized timeline for new users who don’t want to spend time cultivating one on their own.

Ultimately, we believe there is something for everyone at any time on Twitter, and we want to make finding your niche simple from the start.

And we haven’t forgotten about Direct Messages. We have several updates coming that will make it easy to take a public conversation private. The first of these was announced today and will begin rolling out next week: the ability to share and discuss Tweets natively and privately via Direct Messages. Stay tuned!

These are just a few examples of projects and focus areas we’re working on. Over the coming months, we are picking up the pace of product changes and improvements. As ever, that will involve a lot of experimentation, and we’ll be listening to your feedback along the way to make sure we build a service you love.