Twitter Adds 'Happening Now' Feature to Recommend Events and Topics

[MacRumors]

Twitter today announced the addition of a new "Happening Now" feature that is designed to surface customized recommendations for tweets about a particular topic or event that's going on in the world.

Events are displayed at the top of the Twitter timeline in the Twitter app, and clicking on one of the available events displays a list of tweets that are grouped up by event.

Twitter is rolling out the Happening Now feature for sports-related events to start with, but it will expand to other types of content in the future. It will eventually highlight tweets about live video, TV, and breaking news.

Feel the roar of the crowd, no matter where you are.We're rolling out a new way to see what's happening now, starting with sports in 🇺🇸! Available on Android and iOS starting today. https://t.co/lmBFCK4DG0 pic.twitter.com/cv4wL8hCxA - Twitter (@Twitter) October 10, 2017

Happening Now joins other tools to surface non-timeline tweets like Moments and Explore. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a Twitter spokesperson said the feature is meant to make it easier to find conversations about events users are interested in.

"There's so much happening on Twitter all the time, but it could be easier to find events you are interested in, and the conversation around those events, in the moment," the spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. "If we know you are a Giants fan, we can guess you'd love to see the conversation specifically around a game. All this content already exists on Twitter - with Happening Now, we're collecting it and making it simpler for you to find it in one place."

Happening now is available on Android and iOS devices starting today.

Article Link: Twitter Adds 'Happening Now' Feature to Recommend Events and Topics

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Here come the complaints about wanting a chronological timeline, completely unrelated to this change.

 

[dannyyankou]

I could’ve sworn I’ve seen this before on my timeline. Maybe they were just testing it.

 

[EdT]

Here come the complaints about wanting a chronological timeline, completely unrelated to this change.

I don't want you to be disappointed so here it is: I want chronological order back.

Actually, if they could get the ratio of ads down to 1 ad per every 4 or 5 people that I actually follow I'll drop the chrono complaint.

 

[fairuz]

Yay, now I can get Trump's opinion on everything.
JK. In all seriousness, it's kinda cool, and I wonder how well it works for more obscure news. I've followed parts of the "Syrian Civil War" (not exactly accurate title anymore) through tweets people repost onto Reddit, some very close to the source.

 

[farewelwilliams]

hello peter

 

[ipedro]

This makes more sense than Moments which has its own UI making it feel like an app within an app with its own outside looking view and no clear way to get back into your regular tweet timeline.

Unlike Moments, Happening Now is self explanatory. Putting it in a side scrolling panel at the top of the timeline keeps it within the expected Twitter UI.

 

[0098386]

Feature wise Twitter is really on the ball now. Just be nice if they cracked down on the Nazis and white supremacists that we all want gone. X

 

[ipedro]

Feature wise Twitter is really on the ball now. Just be nice if they cracked down on the Nazis and white supremacists that we all want gone. X

They’re getting good at that too hiding highly flagged tweets and users that its own machine learning has flagged. It’s also possible to block certain words. That makes them easy to block out since 99.9% of those undesirables use a certain very predictable vocabulary.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I don't want you to be disappointed so here it is: I want chronological order back.

Actually, if they could get the ratio of ads down to 1 ad per every 4 or 5 people that I actually follow I'll drop the chrono complaint.

Use a 3rd party app to view Twitter. Ads don't appear in 3rd party apps as they aren't pushed through the Twitter API.

 

[EdT]

Use a 3rd party app to view Twitter. Ads don't appear in 3rd party apps as they aren't pushed through the Twitter API.

I've looked at 3rd party apps but reviews for the same app can vary from dismal to great for the same app. I'd be willing to pay 5-10 dollars a year if it restores chronological order or cuts out unsolicited ads. More if I like the app but the companies losing money. Ads are the consequence of people avoiding paying for content.