For the next few weeks the now massive social networking site will be rolling out new features and site designs. Along with the new site design Twitter debuts its new logo witch incorporates the popular “tweet bird”.
The new look starts with the timeline. Your new timeline will have links to mentions, retweets, searches, and lists all right above your timeline, with your followers and trends to the right, just like the old design. They have also added infinite scroll so you no longer have to click more at the bottom of your timeline. The new features also include the ability to get more detailed information about a tweet. Just click on a tweet and an info pane will show up next to your timeline that displays related content like who retweeted and replayed to the tweet. Another new addition is that media such as YouTube, Flickr, twitpic, twitgoo, twitvid, and Vimeo will be shown in an info pane next to your timeline as well.
The one thing that the new design lacks is real-time-new-tweet updates, there is a notification for new tweets but you still need to refresh the page to see the new tweets.
The design overhaul is long overdue because it seems like we have been looking at the same old Twitter for the past 4 years. Or have we? Will this help bring Twitter users back to their home base or will people still continue to use 3rd party applications for tweeting? Twitters next step should be to overhaul the twitter iPhone app.
Share this video of the new London Olympic mascots with all your friends
Know some random facts about Twitter eg. Justin Beiber is more popular than Jesus on Twitter but Jesus is more popular than Betty White despite her SNL feature
You are amazing and I don’t know how 20 years ago people got around with out MapQuest to look up directions, Facebook to keep track of “friends,” Wikipedia to provide relevant and semi accurate information on almost every topic, etc. etc.
However, just when I think that I have mastered an interface, know where everything is, have uncovered all the secrets and learned all the shortcuts you go and change it on me. Some sites I’ve come to expect that every few weeks I’ll log on and be lost in a new design but not Google. Ever since I can remember Google has had the same design, same layout, despite their ever growing number of other sites and programs. Now I look at the familiar home page and see a deceptive cover for the changes underneath.
The latest “search enhancement” is called Google Instant. Previously Google would guess what keywords I was typing in a small drop down; now I can see each guess’s search results unfold in real time. Google claims the benefits are worthwhile.
By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.
Maybe I liked those seconds where I actually typed out what I was looking for, maybe I like not being distracted by all the other things I could be looking for and maybe I never really liked when you started trying to guess what I was looking for in the first place.
Please understand, it’s not you it’s me. Without all this change the growth of the internet would be stifled, there would be fewer opportunities for competition and content would not be user driven. You like to move fast and I don’t know if I can keep up but I’m going to try my best and hopefully we can make this work out in the long run.
In Elementary School Four Square was a game played with a rubber ball on a square court, today Foursquare is a much talked about app that has nothing to do with athleticism or hand-eye coordination. How techie Foursquare works is that every time you go somewhere you can check in, post reviews, and earn rewards.
As a college student living in Philadelphia I immediately can see how useful this would be when exploring new areas. However most of the population has a fairly steadfast routine which would give little incentive go to the trouble of checking in at locations. In an article published on AdAge.com, Kunar Patel reported that in a recent study
“Forrester finds that only 4% of U.S. online adults have ever used location-based mobile apps such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt. Only 1% update these services more than once per week.”
Social media savy companies such as Starbucks and Pepsi have used Foursquare for promotions which could draw in a much larger user base for mobile apps. Also the integration of the mobile loyalty card application CardStar with Foursquare gives users the option of being checked at the time of scanning. The question is will it be enough incentive?
For marketers knowing where you are and how often is intensely valuable information. It can help them discover what type of consumer you are and how best to reach you with targeted advertising. I believe that until companies come up with something more valuable to consumers than a badge or coupons, people will continue to see location-based apps as not worth their time.
Dan Clifton and Ben Greenblatt worked with social media agency, 1000 Heads, to document your typical day at the beach… with 30 prominent tech bloggers.
