A new look for the Twitter interface

For many people, Twitter has grown to become a sort of vital link between them and a fast-moving world.

While Twitter isn’t everyone’s proverbial cup of tea, with its onslaught of “just happening” posts, millions of users seem to be doing just fine, with it. These users will be happy to learn that the nice people at Twitter have released a new, lighter, quicker, prettier and simplified version of their web site.

The most significant changes, however appear to be in the sidebar. The tabs from above the sideline have been moved to the right side. In short, if you haven’t been by there in a while, now might be a good time to check the place out.

For those who are politically inclined…

The US election fever doesn’t go unnoticed, on Twitter. Far from that, actually, since the posts just keep pouring in on Twitter’s specially deisgned 2008 Election page where you can view a live stream of “what’s hot now”, from the entire twittersphere.

It’s hard to imagine anyone would change their vote based on something they’d have learned from Twitter’s live election feed but still, some posts are funnier than others.

Aside from politics, it also seems that Twitter is used by business types who need to coordinate some of their actions between each other but it’s still an “edge” thing and hasn’t translated into a significant phenomenon, yet.

For those who still don’t quite grasp how this free service can make their life better, here’s Twitter’s take on itself: “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” — so there you have it, Twitter is about (relatively) effortlessly staying in everybody else’s loop.

Technology gurus have coined Twitter’s service to be a micro-blogging platform where brief text updates, usually comprising less than 140 characters, are posted in the same way a blog post would… only a lot shorter.

Reading other people’s “twittered life” can be amusing, for a while. After that (short) while, it can quickly get boring, pointless and futile. Seriously, it gets there fast. Nevertheless, “twittering friend circles” seem to be blissfully happy with this free micro-blogging service which, for these users, currently feels both trendy and (of all things) useful.

Maybe long blog posts, like this one, are becoming “too long” in a world which has become somewhat overloaded with content featuring varying levels of “value”. Perhaps micro-blogging, Twitter-style, conveys enough value (for enough people) to turn into a genuine “solution” for insanely busy, yet wired, people.

The future of Twitter (and similar services) will be decided by Netizens like you because where you click is, ultimately, where the online world may be heading.

Tags: twitter, twitter’s new interface, new looks for twitter, new templates, simpler themes, election fever, live feeds, micro-blogging, microblogging, microblogs, microbloggers, short blog posts, instant distribution, information overload, valuable content, online trends, netizens, web, choices