Twitter confirms the rollout of a new feature that lets users see content in their timeline from people that they don't follow.
The social networking site first tested the feature over the summer but has transitioned it to become a standard characteristic of the feed.
Twitter had been inserting recommended tweets, accounts and topics on only a number of users' feeds; not everyone saw the same content. However, the company hints at possibly expanding the reach of the suggested content to include all Twitter users in the future.
"Some timeline experiments never make it to 100 percent of users. The ones that do aim to make the experience more interesting and relevant. As the timeline evolves, we will continue to show you Tweets you care about when they matter most," says Twitter in a blog post.
Twitter is finding a way to close the gap on rival Facebook by experimenting further on increasing their users' online activities. At present, Facebook has more than a billion monthly active users worldwide. Twitter has around 270 million.
The number may not be that bad, but Twitter wants it to get even bigger. One way is to make things less intimidating for newcomers to the site.
Inserting recommended tweets into the timelines of "seasoned" users, especially those who prefer Twitter to Facebook, could be the only times when the changes would appear controversial.
Facebook works by taking stories out of the news feed and sending around 300 of the prioritized content to the average user every day. Twitter, on the other hand, works by just adding the tweets in.
It remains to be seen how long Twitter plans to use the same method. If the company decides to change it, perhaps much like the way Facebook does, it may create a huge controversy among the "seasoned" Twitter users.
"One of our goals for experimentation is to continue improving your home timeline. After all, that's the best way to keep up with everything happening in your world. Choosing who to follow is a great first step -- in many cases, the best Tweets come from people you already know, or know of," says Twitter.
"But there are times when you might miss out on Tweets we think you'd enjoy. To help you keep up with what's happening, we've been testing ways to include these Tweets in your timeline -- ones we think you'll find interesting or entertaining," the company adds.
