Twitter Launches ‘Highlights’ Feature For Android Users

Twitter has now launched “Highlights” to provide a summary of what the company considers to be the most relevant Tweets for individual users. Many Twitter users find it too time consuming to find the content that truly interests them, so the company is offering this new feature as a way to make the service more convenient and engaging.

“While your home timeline is a great place to browse through and engage with Tweets, we know it can be challenging to find the time to get through everything,” explained Gordon Luk, tech lead at Twitter, in a blog post. “We want to help you get the most out of Twitter, no matter how much time you spend with it.”

To create Highlights, the company explains it will consider factors such as the accounts and conversations that are popular among the people that a user follows, Tweets from people that a user is closely tied to, topics and events that are trending in a user’s network or area, and the people that are popular or trending among people that a user follows.

Users must opt in to receive Highlights, which will send a notification to their phone up to twice per day to tell them that their Highlights are ready. Once a user opens the notification, they will see their Highlights displayed in a new interface within the Twitter app. They can view them all by swiping through from left to right, and once they’ve reached the last Highlight, another swipe will take them directly into their home timeline.

The company has been experiencing slow growth in comparison to rival social networks in recent times, which has been widely discussed in the digital marketing industry. According to eMarketer, Twitter’s U.S. user base grew by only 12.1 percent last year, to reach approximately 48.4 million users. The market research company estimates that Twitter’s user growth will fall into the single digits this year. In comparison, the number of U.S. Instagram users increased by almost 60 percent in 2014, bringing its domestic monthly user base to 64.2 million people.

With the new Highlights feature, Twitter is attempting to engage newcomers in a more effective manner, as well as to prove its relevance to existing users.

Initially, Highlights is only available in English for Android users, who can opt in by going into “settings” in their Twitter app. Twitter says that it will be continuing to refine the feature and will consider introducing it to other platforms in the future.

“With this latest improvement, we’re delivering the best of Twitter to you, so it’s easier to catch up with your world,” Twitter wrote as its blog post conclusion.