Twitter appears to be testing a Sina Weibo-style ‘recommended accounts’ feature

It’s been a year of experimentation from Twitter, and the latest feature that the company is piloting is the option to favorite other users’ accounts.

Favoriting has taken on a new meaning in recent times. For many users it is more akin to a Facebook ‘Like’ or an act of acknowledgement rather than the original premise of bookmarking interesting content — but can it be applied to accounts too?

Former TNWer Drew Olanoff spotted an option on Twitter for Android, which CNBC’s Eli Langer suggests could work like an endorsement tool: i.e. users favorite the top accounts that they recommend other people to follow, like a permanent version of the #followfriday hashtag.

Fav’ing accounts on twitter? Hmmm pic.twitter.com/SLOkziMYZw

— drew olanoff (@drew) December 24, 2013

It’s just a test at this point, and it isn’t clear whether users are even notified of account favorites — but you can see how the recommendation model might work by looking at Sina Weibo, the service often known as ‘China’s Twitter’, which lets users prominently display links to accounts they recommend in the top right of the sidebar.

Here’s an example from my infrequently used Weibo account:

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Twitter’s Isaac Hepworth pointed out how the use of favorites grew massively after the company began notifying users when their tweets had been favorited and, as Langer points out, that has somewhat cannibalized the number of retweets a popular tweet might gain, and making it harder to acquire new users virally.

The growing use of favs has made it harder than ever to get retweets. It forces you to create more compelling content if you want it shared.

— Eli Langer (@EliLanger) August 16, 2013

Recommended accounts could bring a new dynamic to discoverability, and, with many Twitter regulars following hundreds/thousands of accounts, it would be a neat way to spotlight your favorites.

We reached out to Twitter for comment on the feature, and its potential usage.

Headline image via Scott Beale / Laughing Squid