Media Meditation #2: Playing with new Twitter

Over the past couple weeks, Twitter has slowly been releasing a new website design with new features to it's users. Some people have had the new Twitter for a while, but I just received it yesterday and I've been doing a lot of playing with it.

Here is a video introducing the new Twitter...

New Design: The new Twitter has a new design, with two columns. On the left is your feed with links for mentions, retweets, searches, and lists just above it. Your timeline is no longer limited to a certain number of tweets before you have to select "view more." Instead, simply scroll down and see an infinite amount of tweets. On the right you can see your tweets, followers, lists, and trends. You can also view Twitter profiles on the right, while still reading feeds on the left. The new design makes the website much easier to navigate.

Sharing Media Content: The new Twitter allows you to attach embedded pictures and video right to your tweets, and view them right on the website. Even tweet pictures from your phone!

Integrating media content into tweets is the biggest advancement of this new Twitter.

The new Twitter represents several of our 21st century media culture shifts...

1.) Personal Shift: Twitter is a great example of how our media is becoming more and more participatory.

2.) Aesthetic Shift: This new Twitter allows for convergence. Different media technologies continue to come together forming new multimedia platforms.

3.) Cultural Shift: The new Twitter, because of how easy it is to upload media now, is taking yet another step away from privacy and toward surveillance. Anytime you are putting information on Twitter it is available to the world. Now you can add pictures and videos, putting much more personal information online.

I continue to play with the new Twitter, and I find the website increasingly easier to use the more that I get used to the new interface.

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