Introducing Twitter Moments to Australia

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

People across the world send millions of Tweets every day. These Tweets break news, share thoughts, highlight passions, and support others all the time. We know it can be hard to keep up, and that’s the motivation behind Moments, launching and rolling out in Australia today. Aussies will be the first Twitter users in the Asia Pacific region to have Moments bring them the very best of Twitter across the biggest and most fascinating topics.

Twitter is absolutely part of the national conversation in Australia, across everything from sports and TV to politics and local news. Previously, you may have felt you could only keep up by following thousands of accounts; with Moments, we do that for you. It’s all about making it simpler and easier than ever before to get the very most out of Twitter.

How it works

Tapping on the new lightning bolt tab on your phone or on desktop opens a list of Moments that matter now. As new stories emerge throughout the day, we continue to update the list. You can also swipe through multiple topics like “Entertainment” and “Sports” to find more stories.

Introducing Twitter Moments to Australia

There are two ways to experience Moments: clicking into one and swiping through each Tweet, or following a Moment and having certain Tweets temporarily appear in your timeline for a fixed amount of time. Here’s how to experience each of these:

Engaging with a Moment

  • When you click into a Moment, you’re taken to an introduction with a title and description.
  • Start swiping right to dive right into the story, with pictures and autoplaying videos, Vines, and GIFs.
  • A single tap gives you a fuller view of the Tweet, which you can then like, Retweet, and follow the account. A double tap lets you instantly like the Tweet.
  • The progress bar at the bottom indicates how much more each Moment has to offer.
  • Swiping up or down takes you back to the guide.
  • At the end of a Moment, click the share button to Tweet it to your followers.
  • Read more about Moments and how the desktop version works.

Introducing Twitter Moments to Australia

Following a Moment

Moments are updated as new information or great Tweets become available. For stories that update very frequently — where it’s critical to know what’s happening minute by minute, like live sporting events, a breaking news event, or awards show — you’ll see an option to follow the Moment. This blends the Tweets directly into your timeline and you can keep track of the latest updates in real time without having to tap back and forth between tabs. When that event ends, so do the Tweets, leaving your timeline just as it was before.

Introducing Twitter Moments to Australia

And as with Tweets, a Moment can be shared anywhere. If you spot a Moment you love, you’ll be able to share it in all the usual ways.

Today, most Moments are assembled by our curation team, and some are contributed by partners like @abcnews, @AFL, @BuzzFeedOZ, @ChannelVHits, @NRL, @Scoopla, @TheProjectTV, and @thisisamplify. We’ll expand this list in the future.

We look forward to seeing new and exciting uses of Moments from more partners soon (read our Guidelines and Principles for curating Moments).