Twitter has revamped its timeline to put rich media like pictures and Vine videos front and center. The move is part of a continued effort to make the service more attractive to users and potential advertisers as Twitter’s IPO inches closer to reality.
Previously, users had to click or tap a tweet to expand it and see the accompanying media. Now, photos and videos will be shown in the timeline by default just as they are on social networking rival Facebook.
Twitter is already full of high-profile companies that constantly tweet advertisements to their followers but having photos appear without requiring a follower to expand the tweet will no doubt encourage companies to be more active on the microblogging platform and pay for sponsored tweets.
Perhaps the bigger question is what sort of impact will it have in day-to-day usage? Odds are, you probably don’t care to see every single photo posted by the people you follow. Furthermore, some images may not be appropriate for all ages or in all environments. In the event someone is looking over your shoulder, explicit photos might be tricky to explain away, but I digress.
The company said the change will take place automatically on its website while Android and iOS users will see the revised layout when they update the Twitter app. If you aren’t interested, there’s reportedly an option in the iOS app to turn in-line photos off. No word yet on when or if such an option will eventually come to the web.
