With the spectre of the death of Myspace - once the most popular social network in the world - hanging over all social media platforms, Twitter's apparent planned redesign takes it further up the road to greater clarity.
This is according to World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, and comes amid reports that the microblogging site is quietly testing a new look many say is reminiscent of Facebook.
Tech news site Mashable reported this week that one of its editors detected a "huge update" to his Twitter profile page that sees the current scrollable, text-intensive layout abandoned for a look that embraces a more multimedia design.
While Twitter declined to comment, Mashable notes it is common for Twitter to quietly test new design updates before tweaking or rolling it out to a larger user base.
Initial outcry
While it is common for heavy social media users to buck changes to the platforms they have grown accustomed to, pundits have welcomed the news and say Twitter loyals will soon accept the new layout.
Goldstuck, who says he is not at all a fan of the existing Twitter user experience, says social media users generally tend to resent and resist change, but within a few months tend to forget the old way and look and feel.
"In this case, however, many users have only recently migrated to the current design, and have probably hated its messiness and lack of clear information, so the redesign will be more welcome than most."
Steven Bayhack, head of Fontera's development department, Skunk Works, says if the last layout change by Facebook is anything to go by, there is bound to be a massive outcry about Twitter's new layout, but it should die down very quickly.
"People were upset when Facebook changed their layout, forming groups and starting petitions asking for the old layout to be returned. However, within weeks of the new interface being launched, most users couldn't recall what the old one even looked like."
Bayhack says the new look is likely to be welcomed by brands and companies in particular. "People who are alienated by change catch up eventually, or they get left behind."
Tech analyst Liron Segev, from TheTechieGuy.com, says Twitter needs to change to remain relevant in the Facebooking-Instagramming-SnapChatting era. "A change not only gives it new attention, but may also attract new users who are not on Twitter but now like the look of something they are more used to."
Segev says at the end of the day, no one likes change in something like a personal social network, but when people realise they do not have a choice and the outcry dust has settled, they get used to it.
Faux Facebook?
While Twitter's potential new design has been widely compared to that of Facebook's, Bayhack does not believe Twitter is deliberately copying Facebook. "I think they've done their research on user habits and expectations, and have redesigned the layout according to that. If it is similar to Facebook, it's because Facebook has done it right."
He notes many saw Twitter's last design update in 2013 as reminiscent of Facebook already, but it boils down to making the site more visually appealing like Pinterest, Google+ and Facebook.
Goldstuck says Twitter is merely moving towards a better user experience. He says other social media sites would do well to learn from the "disaster waiting to happen" Myspace.
"Myspace was ugly, messy and difficult to navigate. When Facebook had its first major redesign and moved to a cleaner interface, it was really taking its first step out of the shadows of Myspace. Each subsequent redesign has been towards a cleaner, more easily navigable site. Twitter took a wrong-turn in their last redesign, and this design cleans up the mess."
The problem for Twitter, says Goldstuck, is that it has a vast amount of information and data it can make available and shareable, but it had compressed it all into a frustrating user interface, where it tried to be clever rather than clear. He says navigation took on an element of mystery, which is not a good idea in a mass-market site.
"The proposed new look provides more direct access to information and the user's own data, in a less cluttered design. Those who don't embrace it immediately will soon forget there was any other way of using Twitter."
Segev notes the things people value in Twitter are not the same as those sought in Facebook. "There are those who use Twitter just to get their line-by-line 140 character info. They got used to Retweet, Favourite and Reply. They don't want Facebooky type of features as this is not what Twitter is for."
Twitter has come into its own as a news source, says Goldstuck. According to World Wide Worx's latest Social Media Landscape study, Twitter saw the highest percentage growth among the major social networks in SA. In the period of a year, Twitter users in SA grew from 2.4 million to 5.5 million - an increase of 129%.
"We can see dramatic growth again this year as more people turn to Twitter as their first source of breaking news."
Summing up Twitter's possible move to a fundamentally different design, Goldstuck says: "Americans like to use the battle-cry 'Remember the Alamo' recalling a historic massacre. In social media, the equivalent is 'Remember Myspace', where we saw first a massacre of usability, and then, inevitably, a numbers massacre of its user base.
"The collapse of Myspace was inevitable, given its owner's inability to move to a cleaner, simpler design. Facebook and Twitter appear keenly aware of history."
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