Twitter is introducing a new way of catching you up on tweets you might have missed. A new “While you were away” recap will occasionally be shown at the top of the timeline in the official iOS app.
Twitter says included tweets will be “determined by engagement and other factors,” but hasn’t gone into specifics. The recap will appear more often for those who only check in on their timeline sporadically. If you check Twitter incessantly throughout the day, you probably won’t see the feature that often.
I’m the kind of person who likes to read (or at least scan) every tweet in my timeline, but for the more causal tweeter, I can see this new feature adding value. It’s another step towards Twitter providing more curation of the timeline. The divide between traditional, third-party apps like Tweetbot and the official Twitter app continues to widen.
“While you were away” will begin appearing today in Twitter’s iOS app, and it’s coming to the web and Android “soon.”
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
