After 4 years of failing to convey its message to first-time Twitter users, the micro-blogging site has refreshed its home page that now does a better job of showing what Twitter is all about.
Ever since Twitter.com opened its doors in 2006, it created a very strong partition between people who use Twitter and people who don’t. For years it has struggled to tell people what value there is in a “micro-blogging” site.
It is just recently pushing its way to the critical mass point, now that hundreds of celebrities have their own Twitter accounts, military and government offices use it to convey official information, and people all across the world use it to connect with friends and family.
Twitter’s old home page
Now, for those who still haven’t been to Twitter.com, the first time they visit will provide a more insightful look at what Twitter is.
The landing page now features a “Top tweets” section, where a stream of the latest tweets from celebrities and public figures is showcased. There’s also a pane to the left-hand side that displays several icons representing everything from MSNBC to the Philadelphia Phillies, to let users know the big names that use Twitter.
Twitter’s new home page
In a post on Twitter’s official blog, the company’s creative director Doug Bowman wrote, “People who internalize the value of Twitter understand the power of this simple medium. But it hasn’t been easy to make that value transparent or obvious for curious folks coming to Twitter for the first time.”
