Twitter is testing new features within the structure of its mobile app yet again. According to Mashable, the micro-blogging giant is mulling over replacing its Moments tab with a new “Explore” tab. The Moments tab was introduced last fall to allow users to better track breaking news and other important events.
Twitter Explore tab – a mix of Moments and Discovery
Twitter’s new Explore tab will include both the standard collections of daily Moments and its discovery features, like new accounts to follow, notes The Verge.
Moments was created by the social network in part to assist in making it easier for users, mostly new ones, to find content on the platform. Earlier this year in an interview with Mashable, Twitter’s global curation lead, Andrew Fitzgerald, said they think of Moments as an extension of content discovery on the platform, beyond the search function.
Twitter had a Discover option at the middle of its bottom home navigation row before the introduction of Moments. Discover was primarily to see an algorithmically-generated list of tweets getting a lot of attention and find new accounts to follow. Since then, the micro-blogging site has folded some of that functionality into its search option.
It seems now that the social network wants to break out those features to get users discovering more of its platform outside the standard timeline, notes The Verge.
Still in the testing phase
As of now, the change is in the testing phase for some Android and iOS users, and it seems to be a mixing of old and new Twitter features, notes The Verge. Also we do not know yet if the social network is planning to make this change a permanent one. But it is known that Twitter frequently tests changes like this with small groups of users before making them available to more users around the world.
In a statement obtained by Mashable, the micro-blogging giant said, “As part of our continued efforts to make it easier to find what’s happening on Twitter, we’re testing a new tab for content discovery.”
Twitter’s future remains on shaky ground as the board of directors explores a possible sale. Currently the cloud computing giant Salesforce.com is said to be showing the most interest in the social media platform. Twitter’s new mission seems to be focused on live events and commentary about live events. A new Explore option for its mobile app could be used in that field to persuade users to follow popular streams on its Periscope video platform.
