Twitter has recently taken to testing its app's interface with edge-to-edge videos and photos showing up in the timeline.
Twitter's gradual evolution into it's current multifaceted self is quite a marvel to look back upon. For a site that started out with nothing more or less than short form messages limited to 140 characters, there's quite a lot that it is used for now. Other than essentially being the internet's central forum for all sorts of discussion over trending topics and news, Twitter's media support has elevated the platform as a whole. Now, users can more actively engage with each other, news articles can come equipped with relevant visual data, and brands can more easily engage with customers. With the further addition of GIF support, HQ videos & photos, the 2021 Twitter landscape is much different than the 2006 one.
Naturally, with visual media playing such an important role in discourse on the platform nowadays, the company would only want to further capitalize on that. However, Twitter's devs take a rather careful approach towards updating the site's interface. They rather infamously tested out threaded replies for an entire year, even finally testing it with the general public, before scratching the idea as a whole. The devs are sensitive to how the general community reacts towards new updates and changes, and want to make a positive impact. That would explain why the edge-to-edge interface is only showing up on iOS, and for limited users.
If any individual's experiencing difficulty in imagining what an edge-to-edge interface would look like, they need search no further than Instagram. The platform, even more so reliant on visual media than Twitter, wants to make photos and videos front and center. Therefore, all videos and pictures take up space on the screen, allowing users to get a better look. Twitter even confirmed that they're using this feature to better support visual conversation on the platform, via a tweet from their official Support account.
Even more importantly, this could help overcome the racial bias that Twitter's AI based cropping algorithms possess. Earlier in the year, it was revealed that these algorithms, when cropping faces for previews of photos, would actively cut out faces of other ethnicities in favour of white individuals. Let's hope this feature rolls out beyond iOS soon enough.
Read next: Twitter Adds A Purchases Sub-Menu, Implying That There's More E-Commerce To Come For The Platform
Twitter's gradual evolution into it's current multifaceted self is quite a marvel to look back upon. For a site that started out with nothing more or less than short form messages limited to 140 characters, there's quite a lot that it is used for now. Other than essentially being the internet's central forum for all sorts of discussion over trending topics and news, Twitter's media support has elevated the platform as a whole. Now, users can more actively engage with each other, news articles can come equipped with relevant visual data, and brands can more easily engage with customers. With the further addition of GIF support, HQ videos & photos, the 2021 Twitter landscape is much different than the 2006 one.
Naturally, with visual media playing such an important role in discourse on the platform nowadays, the company would only want to further capitalize on that. However, Twitter's devs take a rather careful approach towards updating the site's interface. They rather infamously tested out threaded replies for an entire year, even finally testing it with the general public, before scratching the idea as a whole. The devs are sensitive to how the general community reacts towards new updates and changes, and want to make a positive impact. That would explain why the edge-to-edge interface is only showing up on iOS, and for limited users.
Now testing on iOS:
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) September 7, 2021
Edge to edge Tweets that span the width of the timeline so your photos, GIFs, and videos can have more room to shine. pic.twitter.com/luAHoPjjlY
If any individual's experiencing difficulty in imagining what an edge-to-edge interface would look like, they need search no further than Instagram. The platform, even more so reliant on visual media than Twitter, wants to make photos and videos front and center. Therefore, all videos and pictures take up space on the screen, allowing users to get a better look. Twitter even confirmed that they're using this feature to better support visual conversation on the platform, via a tweet from their official Support account.
Even more importantly, this could help overcome the racial bias that Twitter's AI based cropping algorithms possess. Earlier in the year, it was revealed that these algorithms, when cropping faces for previews of photos, would actively cut out faces of other ethnicities in favour of white individuals. Let's hope this feature rolls out beyond iOS soon enough.
- Also read: What 8 of Today's Most Popular Websites Would Look Like if They'd Been Designed in the 90s
Read next: Twitter Adds A Purchases Sub-Menu, Implying That There's More E-Commerce To Come For The Platform
