Twitter Favourites New Timeline Algorithm

Performance Communications | August 21, 2014

Have you noticed something a bit different about your Twitter timeline recently? Good news, you’re not the only one.

The developers at Twitter have been busy creating an algorithm (fancy code that tries to predict your behaviour to you and I) that pushes popular posts into your timeline.

The algorithm (currently in experimentation/Beta stage) looks for popular posts based on various social signals that Twitter gathers, including favourited and retweeted tweets to be displayed on users’ timelines – treating them as retweets.

Released worldwide on the 19th of August, the algorithm is now available to all 271 million Twitter desktop and mobile users.

What effect will this have on our tweeting?

Not a big one if you are doing it right in the first place!

Producing great content that tells stories that interest your audience and therefore maximises engagement and reach is what any brand and agency strives to achieve with their content. This new algorithm is only going to increase these figures if done correctly by pushing your best content to new followers.

By continuing to post awesome content that makes followers leap for the favourite and RT button, brands can help their posts reach a larger number of Twitter users that wouldn’t ordinarily have seen it. By demonstrating the popularity of your content, Twitter is more likely to use the information it knows about its users and match the content with the most appropriate users.

Should I be worried?

Whether you like it or not you’ll be seeing more content from people you don’t follow. This is both a blessing and a burden – as a consumer I’m always on the look-out for cool new profiles and stories to follow and engage with, especially within automotive. However, today I’ve seen a variety of stories and posts that don’t interest me in the slightest.

Twitter isn’t telling exactly how its algorithm works and which ‘social signals’ it is looking for, which is a concern for some, especially if that algorithm starts dominating the news feed, but now we know the power of the favourite button is much stronger than just a yellow star.

Hannah Burgess – [social type=”twitter” opacity=”dark”]https://twitter.com/hannahburgess_[/social]

@hannahburgess_ (in case you want to favourite me!)

Second coming: Retro Cars we’d like to see again…

If you didn’t know it already, the retro resurgence is in full swing. In recent years, cars like the Volkswagen ID. Buzz, Alpine A110 and reborn Renault 5 have all ridden the retro wave. At the Paris Motor Show last week, Renault was at it again, with a stand that included EV reinterpretations of the Renault 4, […]

Cruel Britannia? Why the IOC and Team GB restrict athlete’s brand partnerships during the Olympics and our top tips to handle it

With the Paris Olympics officially starting today, the 16 worldwide partners of the Olympics (Coca Cola, Toyota, Visa and Anheuser Busch InBev to name but a few) will be relishing their time in the spotlight. However, the Games, as always, is not without its controversies. If you work in marketing or PR, the Olympics […]

Saying au revoir to range anxiety

As a way of communicating the range of an electric vehicle (EV), the idea of completing a long-distance drive is tried and tested. In 2018, we drove a Jaguar I-PACE through the Channel Tunnel (yep, literally, along the service tunnel) to show how it could travel from London to Brussels on a single charge. More […]

Performance Communications Transitions To Employee Ownership

Performance Communications, a leading provider of specialist communications services to the Automotive, Sport and Technology industries is delighted to announce that it has transitioned to employee ownership via an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The move secures the agency’s long-term independence and will provide its employees with both a greater level of involvement and a share […]

Cricket at the Olympics, it’s just not cricket!

Let’s set the record straight, I don’t like cricket, I love it* but cricket at the 2028 Olympics, is that really necessary? The IOC has announced the five new sports that will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Funnily enough some of the new sports that will appeal to a Northern American […]

Top 5 Sports Documentaries – The Power of Sports Documentaries

It seems that recently a new pro sports documentary appears on an almost daily basis, 24-7 viewing if you need to get away from the family over Christmas! While the docs undoubtedly provide the streaming channels with engaging content to draw subscriptions and drive revenue, should sporting associations or teams always give the green light […]

Unveiling Threads: Exploring the Disruptive Factors and Success Behind the New Social Media App

In a rapidly evolving social media landscape, new platforms emerge, seeking to disrupt the status quo and capture users’ attention. Can Threads go the distance though?

What are the pros and cons of an EV Motorcycle (According to ChatGPT)

What happens when you ask AI tool ChatGPT to create a blog article for you? Well, judge for yourself… Electric-powered motorcycles are becoming an increasingly popular option for riders who are looking for an environmentally friendly and low-maintenance mode of transportation. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the pros and […]