Microblogging site Twitter, is about to launch a major new upgrade including a new interface that makes it easier to share video and pictures, from over a dozen partner websites.
The new layout splits the website into two panes making Twitter behave more like an application than a website. Users no longer have to leave the site if they want to add images and video to their tweets and thanks to a partnership with DeviantART, Flickr, YouTube and other websites, media can now be added from within the Twitter interface.
Usage is expected to soar over the coming days and weeks as Twitter rolls out the upgrade.
Forrester Research analyst Augie Ray, called the upgrade “a significant evolution that promises to attract more visits to Twitter.com, improve Twitterers’ interactions with content and each other, and ease adoption for Twitter newbies.
“The long-term effects could be substantial as Twitter focuses on powering growth by improving Twitter consumption – which will in turn make Twitter a more powerful platform for influence marketing.”
The website received 24 million unique visitors last month, currently has over 145 million users and has over 370,000 new users signing up each day, sending over 90 million tweets a day.
“This is really a complete revamp…It is going to increase the value that people are getting out of Twitter, so in less time you can get more information and value,” Twitter’s co-founder and chief executive Evan Williams said.
“Once you start using it, what you are going to see is that everything is very responsive… The entire front end is re-engineered to be more agile, more responsive.”