#RIPTwitter or Not?

Caitlin Tran | Daily Trojan

It was the BuzzFeed report heard round the world. Last Friday, the news site claimed that Twitter was planning to replace its signature reverse chronological timeline with a redesigned algorithmic feed that would prioritize presumably better content for users. While this would make popular content harder to miss, many were concerned that other voices would be muffled after the change. As a result, the internet went into an uproar that got #RIPTwitter trending with even some celebrities weighing in: 

Caitlin Tran | Daily Trojan

This wouldn’t be the first big change for Twitter users either. In the past year alone, the company has added a curated Twitter Moments feature, removed the 140-character limit from Direct Messages and switched its signature star icon for favorites to a heart icon for likes as part of an ongoing effort to make the social media site friendlier to new users.

On Saturday morning, however, CEO Jack Dorsey stepped in (on Twitter, of course) and put the rumors to rest.

Caitlin Tran | Daily Trojan

Apparently, the outrage wasn’t all for naught though. The Verge acquired screenshots from somebody who has been in a Twitter test group for months trying out the redesigned timeline. It looks nearly identical to the company’s current one, but on further inspection, you may notice that the tweets are out of order. Supposedly, you’ll even be able to find related posts for popular tweets that interest you. Most importantly, however, you’ll be able to opt out of the algorithmic timeline similar to Facebook’s timeline that lets you sort by Most Recent or by Top Stories.

Caitlin Tran | Daily Trojan

While I would personally be open to the change for various reasons, there’s much bigger fish to fry. Going forward, I’m excited to see if and how Twitter addresses the many requests for better spam and abuse policies, a tweet edit option and more cat GIFs. As somebody who loudly mourned Twitter favorites but am now a huge fan of likes, I’ve learned to respect the blue bird’s choices.

#LongLiveTwitter  

Caitlin Tran is a sophomore majoring in arts, technology and the business of innovation. Her blog tech column, Captcha, runs every Tuesday.