Twitter has recently launched Moments, a new feature that enables users to keep track of the news by providing a list of news stories, updated regularly and illustrated by appropriate gifs, tweets, videos, and photos. Twitter’s product manager of Moments, Madhu Muthukumar hopes the feature will make staying informed about what’s happening on Twitter easier for users.
“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,” said Muthukumar.
By clicking on a lightning bolt tab, users are able to see daily stories and specific subjects that interest them, such as sports or entertainment, if they want to look back on older news, or get more specific information. Moments is currently shaped by Twitter’s editorial team. Twitter is also working with different companies, such as The New York Times, Major League Baseball, and Vogue, allowing them to have their own moments. As users swipe through a Moments section, tweets, videos, and photos are selected by Twitter’s editors.
Moments is currently ad-free, but Twitter is planning on introducing ads via their own Moments. Instead of placing an ad in the regular Moments category, companies will get their own “Promoted Moments.” With this feature, Twitter is hoping to increase the number of sponsors and companies that want to buy ads.
“What it’s actually going to be is a dedicated piece of real estate within the moments guide where a brand can curate a series of different tweets or Vines to actually tell their story,” says Twitter VP of Sales Matt Derella.
Twitter Moments is currently available on iOS, Android, and desktop in the US, with plans to introduce the feature to new countries “in the coming weeks and months.” Users from elsewhere can see links shared from the feature and get a sense of how it would work. Twitter is also planning on introducing user-created Moments.