Been to your Twitter account today? Does it look different? Well, if you had some fancy background to jazz it up, you won’t be seeing that from now on anymore. On profile pages, notification pages and the Twitter timeline, all you will see is white.
Also Read: Twitter Launches “Your Data” To Help You Monitor Your Account
The new white background, dubbed by many as “blinding white” is not actually white – for those familiar with HTML hex codes, it’s #f5f8fa. Either way, it’s bland and nobody seems to like it really – especially brands who used the background to convey information or strengthen their brand identity. I can think of at least a dozen organisations or brands that have been using the background image to “spice up” their Twitter accounts. Background images are not entirely gone though. Users can still see them on Tweet, list and collections pages, as a Twitter spokesman explains,
[quote]”We’re removing background images from the home and notifications timelines on web for all users… Now, background images are only available where logged-in users will see them publicly (Tweet pages, list pages and collections pages)”[/quote]
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You can find out more updated info about what you can or cannot do (and what will be visible) on Twitter‘s Help Center
You may be surprised to find out that this approach to account customisation is not a new concept as Twitter started removing backgrounds about a year ago while rolling out profile redesigns. I still can’t figure out entirely where Twitter is going with these changes, but it’s possible that they are opting for simpler account designs to emulate Facebook‘s streamlined look among all accounts.
It has also been suggested that this is also being done to increase the effectiveness of Twitter ads – I tend to agree. Fewer distractions lead to ad success. Right?
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