Did your life change dramatically on
Sept. 14?
Did the world you know become
unfamiliar? If your answer is “yes,” then
we all know why.
As of last Tuesday, Twitter announced
that the extremely popular micro-blogging
site would be undergoing a process of
changes to make their site fit more into
your life: “…we’ve learned something
since starting Twitter — life doesn’t always
fit into 140 characters or less.”
As stated on the official Twitter blog,
in following with the trend of creating a
more streamlined experience, Twitter has
reformatted the timeline.
The new site will create a view of all
the mentions, “Retweets,” searches, and
lists just above your timeline to the left of
your screen.
On the right will be the features that
you are more accustomed to, like the
people you have recently been in contact
with, your favorites and “trendingtopics.”
Twitter has also made importing photos,
videos and most other media content easier
by creating partnerships with DailyBooth,
DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.tv,
Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi,
Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM,
Vimeo, yfrog and YouTube.
When you click on a Tweet, a new
windowpane opens showing additional
information about both the author and/or
subject.
Also, by clicking a username, a
mini profile will appear, detailing quick
information including a bio and recent
Tweets.
In the coming weeks, Twitter has
announced that the new site will be rolled
out to its 100 million-plus users.
Around campus though, Twitter must
be popular as nearly 2,700 people are
following the official UT homepage, while
other Tampa-oriented accounts include
UTspartacus (by UTampa Admissions),
HIREUT, and UT_OSLE by the Office of
Student Leadership and Engagement.
Junior Lamar Johnson has his own
opinion about Twitter’s design overhaul,
saying, “I usually use my iPhone for Tweets
and I’m rarely on the website, but the things
that they are doing are awesome.”
Guilherme Bahmad says, “Embedding
videos will be awesome!”
An option will be available to revert
back to the older version, but only for the
preview period while everyone is getting
accustomed to the more advanced revamp.
To learn more about the new Twitter,
navigate to http://twitter.com/newtwitter.
Todd Sanborn can be reached at
toddalan@me.com