Twitter loves experimenting with its service. One of those experiments involves dropping tweets in your timeline from accounts you don’t follow. That one is actually here to stay.
Today Twitter posted that in recent tests, people enjoyed seeing tweets from accounts they don’t follow in their timeline.
Trevor O’Brien of the Product Team posted:
For example, we recently ran experiments that showed different types of content in your timeline: recommended Tweets, accounts and topics. Testing indicated that most people enjoy seeing Tweets from accounts they may not follow, based on signals such as activity from accounts you do follow, the popularity of the Tweets, and how people in your network interact with them. These experiments now inform the timeline you see today.
The post then points to the What’s a Twitter timeline FAQ that states that in addition to the tweets you may already be used to seeing, there’s a new types of tweet that’ll appear.
Additionally, when we identify a Tweet, an account to follow, or other content that’s popular or relevant, we may add it to your timeline. This means you will sometimes see Tweets from accounts you don’t follow. We select each Tweet using a variety of signals, including how popular it is and how people in your network are interacting with it. Our goal is to make your home timeline even more relevant and interesting.
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How users will react outside of the experiment is yet to be seen. But get ready for “interesting” tweets in your timeline. They’re coming.
➤ The spirit of experimentation and the evolution of your home timeline [Twitter]
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