Twitter Is Changing Your Timeline: What You Need to Know

Twitter's new algorithmic timeline will serve tweets it thinks you want to see.

ByABC News
February 10, 2016, 9:57 AM

— -- It's a new era for Twitter.

The social media company, which has long shown an endless stream of tweets in reverse-chronological order, announced today it will now serve users with an algorithmic timeline that will show tweets out of order.

In the coming weeks, Twitter users can turn on the feature in their settings. When logging onto Twitter, they'll see the tweets that Twitter's algorithm believes they're most likely to care about at the top of their timeline, going in reverse chronological order as they scroll down the new timeline.

Twitter's real-time stream will then be displayed underneath in the same reverse-chronological order, allowing users to also keep track of real-time discussions on Twitter.

In a blog post announcing the change, Mike Jahr, a senior engineering manager a Twitter, said the change would serve users who follow hundreds or thousands of people with a better experience, ensuring they don't miss the tweets that may matter most to them.

"We've already seen that people who use this new feature tend to Retweet and Tweet more, creating more live commentary and conversations, which is great for everyone," Jahr wrote.

To check the feature out now, go to the timeline section of settings and choose "show me the best tweets first."

Twitter's team will be turning on the feature for everyone in the coming weeks, Jahr said, and will make it clear with a timeline notification.

"We love it and think you will too. If you don't, send your thoughts our way, and you can easily turn it off in settings," Jahr said.