If you're like many users, you've probably found yourself perplexed by the little blue bars that have invaded your Twitter timeline. They're part of an update intended to help you keep track of conversations between people you follow -- but if you’re not familiar with it, the new look may be a bit confusing.
Let us demystify: On Wednesday, Twitter launched a new conversation view on Twitter.com and its mobile apps. When two or more people you follow are involved in a conversation, Twitter now groups those tweets together on your timeline. The conversation cluster will appear in your timeline chronologically, according to when the last tweet in the conversation was sent. So, if a conversation started an hour ago, but the latest tweet was sent 38 seconds ago, the whole conversation is going to appear at the top of your timeline.
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Twitter shows three tweets from each conversation: the first and the final two tweets, each connected by a solid line. If there’s more to a conversation, then you can click on the first message in the stream to expand the message and see more replies.
For instance, this conversation between my friends Michael and Bob only showed up as three tweets in my timeline:
Once I clicked on the first tweet, however, the conversation expanded to five, separate from the rest of the timeline, so I could get a good look at the conversation.
The new look may be difficult to swallow at first, as evidenced by a few displeased tweets Wednesday afternoon.
The way Twitter now connects replies/conversations on the timeline weirds me out.— Nicole (@rocknrave) August 28, 2013
I should know better than to update my twitter app. This update is ridiculously appalling. I wish there was an un-update button.— Andie Chivette☀ (@AndieChivette) August 28, 2013
You know, I'm not too fond of this twitter conversation update. I don't need to see the same tweets over and over again.— LeeLee Scaldaferri (@LaScaldaferri) August 28, 2013
Twitter hopes that it will ultimately help users track conversations taking place within their network. Whereas you might have previously overlooked a reply to an earlier tweet in your timeline, now that you can see the whole conversation. And you might be more likely to join in on the convo, or at least have a better understanding of what’s going on. Many users seem to like that idea.
Stalking Twitter conversations has never been easier with this new Twitter update.— Ahmed Zaki Jr. (@Zachiness) August 28, 2013
Wait ! This twitter update has a plus side When two people are beefing on the tl I can go straight to the convo— Brooklyn (@Reckless_III) August 28, 2013
What do you think of Twitter's new conversation view? Do you like the new look? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.