New Twitter features spell trouble for developers

Logged on to Twitter lately? You’ll may have noticed the profile page redesign that’s taken social media by surprise. In an apparent attempt to keep pace with other social networks, Twitter are now giving users the opportunity to add a cover photo to each user’s profile page. Existing users will need to visit the Twitter website and head to the Settings page and then to the Header section to add a header image. Conveniently, the picture that currently serves as the cover photo on your Facebook Timeline will fit into the header photo space provided on your Twitter page – albeit in a rather squashed format.

The latest change from Twitter includes a slew of updates designed to make the visual aspect of the medium more prominent. Thumbnail images are now reproduced in more detail on the site. The social network has limited photo uploads to all but one service – their own – while simultaneously cutting off support for image upload sites such as Yfrog and Twitpic. As far as their own library of apps is concerned, pictures have been promoted: recent user uploads appear underneath each tweet on iPhone, iPad and Android devices, giving an instant link back to multimedia content posted by each user. The emphasis on conversation has not gone, exactly, but Twitter’s desire to provide more than just text interaction appears to be growing.

So why the changes? Well, for one thing, Twitter have been moving towards monetization for some time. Last month, the company tightened up its API (application programming interface) to limit access given to third-party clients – the kind of Twitter apps we all use on our desktops, smartphones and tablets. Website owners will also be prevented from integrating tweets into other content. By keeping more of users’ tweets within its own app boundaries and making it subject to its own rules, Twitter presumably hope to be able to use that content for advertising purposes down the line. (Of course, being able to successfully make that transition without losing the core support of a 500-million-strong user base – a figure forecast by Twopcharts in February – is clearly a challenge which requires a softly-softly approach.)

But the new image features are also likely to bring Twitter closer to its rivals for the sharing of media. Despite the obvious advantages of a 160-character limit for messaging, Twitter simply cannot compete with the verbosity of Facebook or the all-out photo pinboards of Pinterest, and these are the two sites which could whip support away from a medium that seems limited in comparison. Through a series of subtle yet significant updates, the well-established social networking site is pushing away from its initial remit towards something far more comprehensive.

Twitter’s new header image change may seem like a trivial copycat move to keep up with Facebook Timeline, but the implications reach further. It seems Twitter have had enough of sharing their content with third parties, and as they attempt to future-proof the service, it’s clear that they want their ball back.