Have you used Twitter’s explore section yet?
You’ll find it in the lower function bar by clicking the magnifying glass icon, and you’ll be taken to a whole heap of trending topics in the area, complete with an interactive list at the top of your screen to hunt through the emerging discussions in various other categories.
What has prompted the change?
As part of Twitter’s commitment to placing focus on recent news and topics, and in a bid to help its users to connect with issues that resonate most with them, Twitter has made a significant effort to enhance its Explore feature. Only a few weeks ago the ‘Topic’ listing disappeared from our home screens and returned a few days later.
It looks like the Explore section is set for another revamp as Twitter’s product designer, Martin Craster, called upon users to provide feedback on potential ways that Explore could be improved and updated to connect users with topics.
What will the changes achieve?
These changes align with Twitter’s major shift towards improving the relevancy of content for its users, and it seems as though the Explore function is a firmly rooted element in Twitter’s growth plans. If Twitter manages to improve this feature and attract more users towards it, there will undoubtedly be a substantial increase in engagement levels, something which Twitter has been actively pursuing for the past two years.
This is where the shift in vision has been noticed the most. Traditionally, Twitter has been compared with Facebook in terms of user growth, and the results are rarely pleasing for Twitter officials. According to Statista, Facebook’s active user numbers currently float around 2.4 billion per month, whereas Twitter’s figure is 330 million. This has resulted in a much-decreased market value and has caused a significant drop in Twitter ad spend. Last year, in an attempt to combat these problems, Twitter introduced ‘monetizable daily active user’ or ‘mDAU’, focusing its efforts on active users that can credibly be served ads as opposed to targeting large volumes of unrealistic users.
The mDAU count is increasing rather steadily, and with a refined and updated Explore functionality, Twitter can viably continue to improve the in-app performance for its users, gaining ground on its competitors and improving its ad-spend rates.
What specific changes are set to be made?
While it’s still unclear as to what changes will be made to the function, there have been several rumours circulating following the feedback request from Twitter. Some ideas have included a larger spotlight on live trends, focusing on quickly building news stories and improved search functionality.
If changes have been made, it will be interesting to see how Twitter has revamped the function and how it will impact their long-term growth goals.
