Twitter users may soon get a refreshed look for their profile pages. If it decides to implement the major overhaul, Twitter nests will look much like Facebook with a hint of Google+.
Reports have been surfacing about the new look of Twitter. The profile page of users for this test group sports a bigger profile picture, a bigger cover photo, and tweet counts plus other Twitter-dom statistics in a cannot-missed-this font size. The bio of the user, which used to appear inside the profile picture, has been moved below the image.
"The revamped tweet stream is also a departure from its signature look. There is a greater focus on photos and content cards. It moves away from a strictly vertical timeline too," reported Mashable that was among the first sites to spot the massive update on Tuesday.
The new design has veered away from its text-focused layout and leans toward mosaic-like visuals that can be likened to other social networks, such as Facebook with its Highlights feature and Pinterest's clean, tiled look.
The social network has the habit of testing new features and redesign on a small population of users first before rolling it out to the rest of Twitter users. Those who got the refreshed look can view other profiles and these profiles will in turn get the makeover, in case they have not received the redesign yet. It appears that the new look is being tested on the desktop platform for now without any hint of it yet landing on the mobile platform.
The company has not commented if the tweak will be implemented to all of its users and when it will roll out.
The experimentation might have been triggered by the plateauing number of users. In its latest report [PDF], Twitter disclosed that it had 241 million active users per month in the last quarter compared to 232 million active users in the previous quarter. The company's earning forecast is pegged at at least $1.15 billion this year.
The new design, as the company have said before, might help make the user experience better.
"...we are constantly evolving the product. Some changes are visible -- they may help you protect your Twitter account or make it easier to share photos; others are under-the-hood changes that help us suggest relevant content in real time and make Twitter more engaging. A common thread across recent releases has been experimentation. We've tested various features with small groups of our 200 million users before determining what we'll release. These tests are essential to delivering the best possible user experience," Twitter stated in a recent blog post.
While some critics might try to shoot down Twitter because of this latest design revamp, it is nothing new in the social media world. Facebook have also begun using hashtags and listing trending topics.
