Twitter launched a new home page today, for new users (and those who are not logged in). The new landing page places a great emphasis on “following your interests.”
Since co-founder Jack Dorsey’s return to day-to-day operations at the company, he has emphasized the need for Twitter to make people understand how the service can be useful to them. This homepage would seem to reflect this mentality.
Co-founder Evan Williams, who stepped away from day-to-day operations as Dorsey stepped back in, seems to agree:
@ev
Evan WilliamsVery happy the team got the new Twitter homepage out the door. Definitely was time for a refresh.
12 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
The homepage was tested a couple weeks ago, but something went wrong and people had trouble with their accounts, so it was quickly pulled. The kinks are apparently ironed out now, as it is back.
Now, just how useful this will be remains to be seen. If you click on “follow your interests,” you are simply taken to Top Tweets – not the most efficient way to find accounts tailored to you personal interests (shameless plug: our own Twellow is actually great for this).
The homepage also places an emphasis on search, which can be useful for finding realtime info, but is not as great for account discovery. It does lead you the option to use the advanced search filters, but it doesn’t seem like all that enticing of a user experience for someone new to the service.
Then at the bottom a list of suggested users are presented in visual format (profile pictures). Users may find some accounts of interest here, but again, not that great in terms of offering users a personalized experience.
The call to action (“Follow your interests”) does provide a clear message to users though, as some still grapple with why it is they are supposed to use Twitter. This gives them an answer. Of course that’s not the only reason people do use Twitter.