14 DAY TRIAL // You have to love Twitter's notion of a roll out. Two months after announcing the new feature, users are finally, maybe starting to see it in action. In early August, Twitter announced the new Activity and @username tabs on the homepage.
These new tabs would keep users up to date on activity on the site, either the activity that directly relates to them or the activity of the people they follow.
The concept was interesting and original, for Twitter, but, after the announcement, Twitter didn't really do anything, it continued to experiment with the idea.
More users are now reporting seeing the new tabs so Twitter is either getting ready for a real roll out or is significantly widening the test.
Here's how Twitter described the features when it first unveiled them:
"Just click on the new tab with your @username, and you’ll be able to see which of your Tweets are Favorites, plus the latest Retweets (of your Tweets), Tweets directed to you, and your new Followers," Twitter said.
"The other new feature is the Activity tab. It provides a rich new source of discovery by highlighting the latest Favorites, Retweets, and Follows from the people you follow on Twitter – all in one place," it added.
The two new tabs may not seem like much to get excited about at first. But they alter the nature of Twitter significantly, even though they're just surfacing features and actions that are already there.
But, by focusing on activities, i.e. following, favorites, retweets and so on, the social nature of the site is much more evident. This switches the overall focus of Twitter from almost exclusively on content to a broader set of actions which should mean that people will spend more time on the site, something that Twitter definitely wants.