Twitter’s latest attempt to help users find more relevant and popular tweets across its platform is a new set of lists specific to ongoing sports matches. Now, when scrolling through the home tab of the Twitter mobile, you’ll have the option of seeing a carousel at the top of the screen with current games. Tapping into any one will show you a list of tweets relevant to the game that are algorithmically organized. The new feature, called Happening Now, is available starting today on iOS and Android for users in the US, the company announced today in a tweet.
While it’s certainly a valiant effort on Twitter’s part, the addition of yet another algorithmic curation tool may only add more confusing clutter to the app’s already dizzying number of likeminded features. Twitter already has Moments, its news curation tool now buried in the search tab, as well as a new popular articles list in an attempt to replicate the success of aggregation service Nuzzel. There’s also Highlights, an Android-only feature that operates similarly to Moments but with a more personalized twist.
All of these things operate under the same general motive: using software to surface the best Twitter has to offer, to make the site more welcoming to new users and more useful for existing ones. Yet, none truly stand out among all the noise the platform has to offer, instead giving users a muddy amalgamation of various tools and features that do a somewhat subpar job at helping them better navigate the site.
Still: Twitter now has Highlights, Moments, ICYMI, and Happening Now. All halfhearted versions of the same thing. It’s a mess
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) October 10, 2017
Whether this new Happening Now feature improves upon earlier iterations is still unclear, and if it would certainly be more useful if it eventually expands beyond sports. But right now, for non-sports fans, it’s already pretty much dead on arrival.
