Yahoo Finance Twitter faces wave of complaints over TikTok-style reboot
Twitter users have expressed their frustration over an update to the social media platform that mimics a feature from Chinese-owned TikTok.
Twitter rolled out changes to its app for iPhone users this week to make a new timeline, nicknamed ‘For You’, the default feed.
The new timeline is generated using algorithms so that users are shown tweets from accounts they follow in a random order, interspersed with tweets that the website thinks they may like. Users need to swipe across to switch to the chronological feed, labelled ‘Following’.
The overhaul echoes the feed favoured by TikTok – also called ‘For You’ – and is one of a number of changes being pushed through by Elon Musk following his troubled $44bn (£36bn) takeover of Twitter last year.
But the move has prompted criticism from many Twitter users, who have complained that they are no longer seeing updates from the people they follow.
Richard Osman, the TV presenter and novelist, wrote: “Every morning Twitter reverts to the awful ‘For You’ feed, and you have to coax it back to the ‘Following’ feed. Every morning. It’s like teaching a toddler to tie their shoelaces.”
Lance Ulanoff, a US tech commentator, added: “This default to ‘For You’ is so annoying. Twitter is not TikTok. I curated my feed for a reason. Stop. Defaulting. To. For You.”
This default to “For You” is so annoying. Twitter is not TikTok. I curated my feed for a reason. Stop. Defaulting. To. For You. pic.twitter.com/iXvW2G8OUC
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 11, 2023
Twitter said the move was designed to ensure that users see the “best” content on the platform.
But it also raises the possibility that users could be exposed to more adverts and sponsored posts.
Matt Navarra, an independent social media consultant, said: “From a business perspective, it makes sense [that] Twitter wants to do this. They need to surface more content to different types of people to keep them engaged.
“From an advertiser's point of view, you want a platform that has the most amount of users that are engaged and using it frequently.”
But he warned that most users were keen to see the latest tweets and that the changes had “ruffled a few feathers”.
He added: “Any time you try to force users to do something and don’t give them options you will be met with resistance.”
Prior to Mr Musk’s takeover, Twitter laid out plans to make recommended posts more prominent on its app, but backtracked following complaints from users.
Instagram, which is owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, has also attracted criticism for flooding users’ timelines with suggested posts.
The moves reflect efforts by social media companies to mimic the success enjoyed by TikTok, which surged in popularity during the pandemic and is now used by 16m UK adults, according to Ofcom data. The app features a complex algorithm that continually serves users with short clips based on their interests.
The revamp is one of a number of changes promised by Mr Musk, who has already fired thousands of employees and started charging users for a blue tick.
The Tesla billionaire said the change was the “first part of a much larger UI [user interface] overhaul” that will include a bookmark button and long-form tweets.
