Following a report suggesting that Twitter intends to give its service a substantial makeover, especially regarding how it displays tweets, the hashtag #RIPTwitter quickly became the top trending item on the social networking site on Saturday. Judging from the hashtag that surged in popularity, some users are disappointed about the alleged forthcoming timeline tweaks.
BuzzFeed News on Friday published a report saying that Twitter is geared up to roll out an algorithm to sort out tweets based on updates it thinks users would want to see. At the moment, Twitter organizes tweets in a chronological order.
The report has led to negative responses from several users across the globe. Many vented out their frustrations about the news, saying that with the new algorithm onboard, tweets from users with fewer followers may be suppressed.
One user says he does not understand why Twitter wants to turn the microblogging site into "Facebook 2.0." He underscores that people use Twitter because it's not Facebook.
Another user also says that Twitter should stop trying to be like Facebook as it is already "perfect" just the way it is.
A user, meanwhile, went as far as saying that if Twitter really alters the timeline to favor the most relevant rather than the latest tweets, then she will give up Twitter.
if twitter actually changes the timelines to most relevant instead of most recent, then i'm done with twitter #RIPTwitter
— ✨ (@flaminkait) February 7, 2016
Instead of changing the timeline, some users requested for an edit button. For even hardcore Twitter users can't deny that there are times when they need to tweak a tweet because of a typo or other errors. It seems that this is one of the most popular request from the netizens.
Twitter users: can we get an edit button? Twitter HQ: what a terrible idea, lets mess up the order of their timelines instead!#RIPTwitter — Jessica (@rainbowreverie) February 6, 2016
In the meantime, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey has already responded to the #RIPTwitter controversy, ensuring users that the company is always listening. He also notes that the company "never" planned to reorder timelines.
Hello Twitter! Regarding #RIPTwitter: I want you all to know we're always listening. We never planned to reorder timelines next week.
— Jack (@jack) February 6, 2016
He also went on to say that Twitter is here to stay and "becoming more Twitter-y."
Twitter also came under fire last month when it announced a feature enabling users to push out tweets up to 10,000 characters long, as opposed to 140 characters only.
