New Twitter homepage rolls out amidst technical difficulties

By Molly McHugh April 6, 2011

Twitter has been going through some changes lately – changes that aren’t likely to end anytime soon. Reinstated exec Jack Dorsey recently returned to the company’s lineup, and promised that new things were on the horizon for the microblogging site. Dorsey pointedly said he wanted to tweak Twitter’s UI, and he has delivered… to varying results.

The site has had a seemingly endless rotation of homepage alterations, so it should come as no surprise that its designers are at it again. But this time Twitter took a different route: Throughout all its homepage updates, the site has appealed to new users, giving them a brief explanation and look at what exactly Twitter does. This time, Twitter decided to bank on its household name (fair enough) and instead prompt visitors to “follow your interests.” This new approach lines up with a recent blog post from the Twitter team, which focused on improving the personal relevance of who you’re suggested to follow and showing off Twitter’s capability as a search tool.

But the move to a new homepage was thwarted by technical difficulties. Twitter explained it would be “going retro” and disabling New Twitter temporarily. As of this morning, the updated version of the site was restored but Twitter’s new advanced search tool and its trends feature are still out of commission. But that doesn’t mean the new format isn’t on its way; it’s gradually being introduced and will continue making its way to your login page.

So besides a sleek new design, what’s behind Twitter’s tailoring towards relevant search results? That whole making money thing. It’s no secret that Twitter has big plans for profiting off the site, and expects to make some pretty serious cash with a new advertising scheme. And what more could appeal to an ad client than personalized search results that help target potential consumers? Promoted Tweets and Trends are all well and good, but we know by now how profitable a successful site’s social graph can be and it looks like Twitter plans to utilize this.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

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