Partner Article

Changes to social media – what’s going on with Twitter?

With so many social media networks, platforms and apps available at the click of a mouse (or tap of a screen), it’s no surprise that the key social media brands are constantly developing as they compete with one another for user figures.

Just recently the desktop version of Twitter has had a make-over. The cynical among us may think it’s micro-blogging turned Facebook, however, there are key features to this new tweeting layout which are excellent for businesses.

The new layout is much more dependent on visuals than the previous design – photos within tweets are larger and profile page images include an extended banner across the top as well as profile and background images, which are all great opportunities to share company logos, straplines or team shots to express personality.

Other changes include Twitter highlighting ‘best’ tweets on a page by enlarging them so those with the most engagement (retweets, replies or favourites) are easier to spot. This development makes is much easier to see, at a glance, the type of content that works best for your page in terms of follower engagement.

To stand out even further, Twitter has now enabled all users of the new layout to ‘pin’ a tweet to the top of the profile, ensuring that the chosen tweet is seen, despite the date it was posted. Currently, Twitter only allows one ‘pinned tweet’ at a time so choose your key business message carefully.

Another significant feature within the new layout is the ability to filter tweets. Users are now given the option to separately view tweets from the account or all tweets and replies. Tweets from the account are shown as the default profile page meaning the important messages are given a better profile, rather than getting lost in a stream of chatter.

For those who haven’t been offered the new profile layout yet, click here to make the change.

To find out more about Twitter, Approach PR’s next ‘How to’ session is on 29th April 2014.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Verity Clarke .