You may have seen the recent hashtag #RIPTwitter, but what’s it all about? This weekend the social media world went crazy at the news that Twitter could potentially be changing some of its features. The social media network which launched in 2006 are said to be introducing an algorithmic, more Facebook-style feed. Tweets will stop appearing in their usual reverse chronological order and instead will display according to what they think is the most relevant. The most obvious explanation is that they are looking for different ways to surface the best content, and control which tweets make the top of your timeline.

Twitter’s current “while you are away” feature is already similar to an algorithmic timetable; with it displaying top tweets since the last time you used the platform. Therefore the best way to think of the new timeline would be as an expanded version of this feature. If you were to spend an entire day away from Twitter, you could relax knowing that when you reopen the app you will see highlights from the day. It sounds very like Facebook to me – is that what we want from Twitter?

The site is also rumoured to be increasing the character count, bringing the tweets up to 10,000 characters in the near future. Many of these changes are said to bring Twitter more in line with Facebook – like the move away from ‘favouriting’ in favour of ‘liking’. The 140-character limit has been around as long as Twitter has; it’s part of the product’s personality: surely changing this now will not all of a sudden lure in new users, with them already being able to get this service from Facebook.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reacted to the trending #RIPTwitter with a series of tweets. “Regarding #RIPTwitter: I want you all to know we’re always listening. We never planned to reorder timelines next week”. “Twitter can help make connections in real-time based on dynamic interests and topics, rather than a static social/friend graph. We get it.”

With users threatening to abandon the social media platform, it is quite clear this announcement hasn’t been received positively; with Dorsey frantically trying to reassure users it is staying individual.

It’s difficult not to feel slightly sorry for Jack Dorsey this weekend. His users have used his own platform to express that they feel the death of Twitter is on the cards, with #RIPTwitter trending. This hashtag suggests a tremendously negative response to the new ideas, with users of the micro-blogging site claiming they would no longer use the platform if it were to become more like Facebook. It seems they are not happy that tweets may potentially be missed, real time tweets may appear in an unorganized order and content will be disrupted.

Twitter is a great way for businesses to connect on a more personal level with its consumer market, since it helps you build your brand and keep your customers in the loop. It allows you to access real time feeds and keep up to date on current happenings. An algorithmic timeline represents everything everyone hates about Facebook. It’s authoritarian and destroys the illusion that we, the users, own it and control what’s being viewed.  We’ll be watching closely to see what happens with this!

How about you, would you welcome such a move?

By Rebecca Guest