Twitter has introduced a new feature that aims to change the way users view messages in their timelines, with the "best" tweets appearing at the top.
Reports that Twitter could be changing the timeline surfaced last week, prompting laments by users tweeting with the hashtag #RIPTwitter .
They said using a customised or algorithmic timeline - similar to Facebook's News Feed - meant that Twitter would lose one of its signature features.
Now Twitter has confirmed that it is changing the way it displays tweets in users' timelines, by customising them to individual users instead of uniformly displaying them in reverse chronological order.
However, it is not doing away with the reverse chronological timeline altogether.
"You follow hundreds of people on Twitter, maybe thousands, and when you open Twitter, it can feel like you’ve missed some of their most important Tweets," the company explained in a blog post.
"Today, we’re sharing a new timeline feature that helps you catch up on the best Tweets from people you follow.
"When you open Twitter after being away for a while, the Tweets you’re most likely to care about will appear at the top of your timeline – still recent and in reverse chronological order.
"The rest of the Tweets will be displayed right underneath, also in reverse chronological order, as always. At any point, just pull-to-refresh to see all new Tweets at the top in the live, up-to-the-second experience you already know and love."
The change to the timeline is also designed to appeal to advertisers by giving more prominence to tweets that advertisers pay for to promote their products.
Twitter hopes that having these tweets appear higher up in users' timelines will make it more likely they will respond to ads.
Twitter is live. Twitter is real-time. Twitter is about who & what you follow. And Twitter is here to stay! By becoming more Twitter-y.— Jack (@jack
I *love* real-time. We love the live stream. It's us. And we're going to continue to refine it to make Twitter feel more, not less, live!— Jack (@jack
Users have to opt in to use the new algorithmic timeline by going into the timeline section of their settings and choosing "Show me the best Tweets first".
The change comes comes just hours before Twitter reports fourth-quarter earnings to investors, who have been pressuring the company to increase user growth and ad revenue by making the product easier to use.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter's chief executive and co-founder, tried to reassure users in a series of tweets last week that Twitter would remain the place for live news and commentary.
