Twitter tests 'Facebook style' news feed

Twitter is testing a new feature which will suggest posts users might have missed – in the form of a ‘Facebook-style’ news feed which appears when they load the app.

The new, ‘While You Were Away’ feature suggests posts users might like, and is believed to ‘pick’ posts based on how many times they have been shared, and whether an algorithm believes users might like them.

The feature is a radical change for Twitter, which previously delivered Tweets in a simple timeline, without picking out specific posts for attention.


User response has so far been mixed.

Twitter has also tested other Facebook-like features such as promoted posts, which now pop up within users’ news feeds.

Twitter announced the new feature in November.

The site said that it was, ‘Experimenting with ways to give you what you come to Twitter for: a snapshot of what’s happening”. It said that the feature would use information like who you follow and what you engage with to pick out highlights, showing them “as you log back in or come back to the app.’