AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
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Twitter announced on Monday that it will give users the option to structure their timelines chronologically by opting out of "Show the best Tweets first."
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Reverse chronological order used to be the default format on Twitter's timeline, but it was changed in 2016.
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Twitter cites user feedback as the reason for the change, and it coincides with a viral tweet that suggested a way to game Twitter's "mute words" function to effectively create a chronological timeline.
Twitter has announced that it will once again give users the option to view their timelines in reverse chronological order, allowing them to opt out of its "Show the best Tweets first" format.
Originally Twitter was structured in reverse chronological order, but the company switched to a default algorithmic timeline in 2016, which upped popular tweets and tweets from accounters users regularly interact with.
In a statement on Monday, Twitter said it had heard "feedback" from users who preferred the unfiltered, chronological model.
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2/ We’ve learned that when showing the best Tweets first, people find Twitter more relevant and useful. However, we've heard feedback from people who at times prefer to see the most recent Tweets.
It said that it is working on creating an easily accessible switch that would allow people to instantly switch between an algorithmic or chronological timeline, but that in the meantime users can deselect the "Show the best Tweets first" setting to achieve this effect.
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4/ So, we’re working on providing you with an easily accessible way to switch between a timeline of Tweets that are most relevant for you and a timeline of the latest Tweets. You’ll see us test this in the coming weeks. Tweet Embed:
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5/ Meanwhile, today we updated the “Show the best Tweets first” setting. When off, you’ll only see Tweets from people you follow in reverse chronological order. Previously when turned off, you’d also see “In case you missed it” and recommended Tweets from people you don’t follow.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted about the change, explaining that it would not show "in case you missed it" or liked tweets from accounts users follow.
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🆕 if you turn off timeline ranking in settings today, you’ll see all the tweets from people you follow in reverse chronological order…no “in case you missed it” or tweets the people you follow “liked”. https://t.co/F9qOg9aC22