If you don't see Moments in your Twitter app anymore, here's why

Twitter may be getting ready to make some big changes to its app.

The company is now testing a change that replaces the Moments tab with a feature called "Explore," Twitter confirmed to Mashable.

With the change, Twitter is opting to put "content discovery" front and center in the app, rather than Moments alone. Instead, the new Explore tab, which for now is appearing only in Twitter's iOS and Android apps, highlights trending topics and search alongside Moments.

"As part of our continued efforts to make it easier to find what’s happening on Twitter, we’re testing a new tab for content discovery," the company said in a statement.

The new Explore section began appearing in place of Moments for some Twitter users Wednesday. (Moments is still rolling out globally and is currently in a handful of countries outside of the United States.) It's not clear yet if the company plans to make the change permanent but Twitter frequently tests changes like this with small groups of users before making them available more widely.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Prior to the launch of Moments, Twitter had a Discover tab in its app and website that highlighted suggested accounts to follow as well as popular tweets (the company opted instead to fold some of tis features into search.) Explore is an extension of those efforts but is much easier to find.

Eventually, Twitter could use the Explore section to highlight more types of content, like its live video streams or Periscope video.

For Twitter, the update provides a way to make it easier to point users to content surrounding live events and topics that are in the news, which has reportedly been an increasingly important priority. With Twitter's future as an independent company uncertain, executives at the social network have "clarified the company’s mission and focus, which now revolves around live events and live commentary," according to a report in the New York Times.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Moments, which originally launched almost exactly a year ago, was created in part to help make it easier for Twitter users -- particularly new ones -- to find content on Twitter. "We think of Moments as an extension of content discovery on Twitter, beyond the search function," Twitter's global curation lead Andrew Fitzgerald told Mashable in an interview earlier this year.

Now, by broadening that section of the app to include more types of content, it appears that Twitter is doubling down on that strategy.