Circle takes the square: What to know about Twitter's redesign
By Patrick Connelly
Project Manager, Twisted Rope
In what came as somewhat of a shock to many late last week, Twitter gave the design of its platform a face lift, unveiling perhaps the most drastic front-end changes the social network has seen to date in one fell swoop.
The updates help Twitter "feel lighter, faster and easier to use, Grace Kim, the company's vice president of user research and design, said in a post regarding the latest redesign on Twitter's company blog.
Founded in 2006, Twitter has revolutionized communication and changed the way people consume news and information -- often cutting out the middle man as news is now reported around the clock and straight from the source. It’s also given businesses the ability to connect directly with consumers.
The most recognizable of the changes in the Twitter user interface is a shift from its traditional square icons or avatars for individual users to a circle shape containing the image selected by a user or business.
The changes came from feedback Kim said Twitter had received from its more than 328 million active monthly users, a number that's grown from the 313 million the company found to be active in July 2016.
"We listened closely and kept what [users] love," Kim said. For the aspects users didn't love, she said Twitter "took a new approach to fix [them] and make [those aspects] better."
The platform itself has undergone routine updates since its debut and as the social network's grown, most notably in 2011 to phase out its original design and alter its timeline structure. Later that same year, Twitter introduced even more changes to better incorporate and promote advertising.
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This time around, the updates include:
clearer fonts and typography, making Twitter easier to read;
more streamlined navigation for app users, incorporating changes across the board that were originally phased in for only Android users;
the automatic opening of clicked links from the app in a user's browser, such as Safari for iPhone users;
simpler icons allowing new users to quickly understand how Twitter works and how things function; and
live, auto-updating of tweets themselves to instantly reflect "likes" or replies in real time.
The updates, overall, are smaller tweaks but feel more like a big change because of the revamping of the navigation and icons or avatars.
The full-fledged release of the updates on all versions of the app are expected to be complete no later than next week.
The redesign itself is part of Twitter's digital strategy and continued drive to be the place everyone stops first to see "what's going on" or "what's happening."
Swift redesigns to social media platforms with little announcement, however, can be problematic in the short term for the business world. With branded icons and background imagery at specified dimensions already in place, companies must work quickly to adapt to Twitter's changes and check in to be sure current elements meet requirements to ensure proper viewing across devices.
Tailoring custom brand elements to fit individual social platforms is no easy task, though many people have worked behind the scenes to simplify the process. In fact, another Buffalo, N.Y.-based digital marketing agency, Mainstreethost, has perhaps simplified it best with its always-updated “Social Media Image Size Cheat Sheet.”
The Twitter redesign comes about 6 months after LinkedIn revamped its platform in favor of a cleaner look some said borrowed heavily -- and perhaps rightfully so -- from Facebook's look and feel.
Fortunately for many business, the redesigned LinkedIn "company pages" were unveiled slowly over the months that followed, allowing brands time to adjust to the changes.
In the immediate wake of Twitter's recent changes, some users were quick to mock the updates, though the prevailing response seems to be favorable once users have adjusted to the new look.
Patrick Connelly is a project manager at Twisted Rope. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @thatswhatPCsaid.
