Twitter has launched Moments, a new service which hopes to show users the day’s most popular stories, as the 140-character social network takes a stab at news curation.
The new button in the middle of the app marked by a lightning bolt brings users a curated, magazine-style view filled with comments, images and videos pulled from users on the ground and news organisations’ Twitter feeds.
The Moments tab shows stories curated by a small editorial team based at Twitter in New York. The tab is divided into sections including “today” and news, sports and entertainment.
It forms part of Twitter’s attempts to make its service more appealing for novice users or those that have used Twitter and then left, feeling a lack of engagement.
Madhu Muthukumar, Twitter’s product manager for Moments, said: “We know finding these only-on-Twitter moments can be a challenge, especially if you haven’t followed certain accounts. But it doesn’t have to be.
“Moments helps you find the best of Twitter as easily as tapping an icon – regardless of who you follow.”
The new feature is being rolled out to US users across Twitter’s Android, iOS and web apps right now, although users outside of the US can view them if sent a link. Twitter plans to roll the localised feature out to Europe at a later date.
Moments are created around topics or events. Twitter’s chief financial officer, Anthony Noto, tweeted some examples, including a Moment reviewing the Seattle Seahawks victory over the Detroit Lions last night, which pulled in videos and photos from before, during and after the game from teams, players, fans and sports commentators.
Each moment is led with a small summary of the news, written by Twitter.
Moments can be shared or embedded, and while they are currently being generated by Twitter itself, the plan is to have media companies generate their own and allow Twitter to curate them.
Twitter is initially partnering with the Bleacher Report, BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, Fox News, Getty Images, Mashable, Major League Baseball, Nasa, the New York Times, Vogue and the Washington Post.
With Twitter having confirmed founder Jack Dorsey as chief executive on Monday, after turmoil following Dick Costolo’s stepping down, Moments is Twitter’s attempt to show users and Wall Street that it can continue to innovate and attract new users.
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