Twitter tweaks Discover tool

Twitter tweaks Discover tool

The changes to the algorithm behind the Discover tool will help provide more relevant and personalised results.

Twitter will roll out an update to its “Discover” tab across its main site and mobile apps over the coming weeks.

 

According to Twitter’s VP of product, Satya Patel, the update will improve the service‘s filtering mechanism, to surface “more personalised and meaningful” stories for its users.

“The Discover tab makes it easy to discover information that matters to you without having to follow additional accounts,” says Patel. “We’ve incorporated additional personalisation signals to select Discover stories, including Tweets that are popular among the people you follow and the folks they follow.”

The Discover tab was originally introduced to Twitter in December last year, along with the micro-blogging service’s major redesign. The feature is designed to display trending topics and hashtags, while also suggesting who to follow and stories to read based on the user’s connections.

Patel explains the new design shows who tweeted about particular stories, not just which ones are trending. “You can click ‘View Tweets’ on any story to see popular Tweets from your network or recent, relevant Tweets directly below the story summary. This social context helps you understand why each story matters to you and makes it easier to join the conversation.”

Twitter is often criticised for its lack of proper filtering mechanisms (a gap which a number of other services have tried to fill), and according to reports, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is all too aware of this.

Gigacom reports that Costolo admitted at a conference on Tuesday that Twitter needs to work on better understanding its users’ “interest graphs”.

According to Patel, Twitter is continuously working to develop its filtering mechanisms and the latest update is just part of the ongoing development of the Discover tool.

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