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Tech More: Twitter Periscope Vine
Twitter's new 'Project Lightning' could dramatically change how people experience live events

Nathan McAlone

57 minutes ago

Twitter is developing a new major feature called "Project Lightning" that will use the concept of “events” to bring a curated and immersive experience to users, BuzzFeed's Mat Honan reports.

These events will be entered around photo and video, and they won't appear in the traditional timeline format.

Here's what using Project Lightning will be like.

On Twitter’s app, you’ll be able to press a button that will take you to an events screen. Kevin Weil, who heads product for the Twitter, told BuzzFeed events are anything that is happening that’s interesting. “It could be current events. It could be breaking news. It could be awards shows or sports. But also cultural events and moments.” Basically, if people are tweeting about it, it becomes an event.

When you open one of these events, you’ll be taken to a collection of tweets. But this isn’t a feed, it’s actually a package that has been selected by a team of editors. These packages are built around photos and videos, with the goal being to immerse the user in the experience. Each will take up your entire phone screen, and you can swipe between them: Vines, Periscopes, photos, videos, etc. Twitter hopes to create a swirl of multimedia content. And there will be no load times — or at least that's what Twitter is claiming.

You can also “follow” an event until its conclusion, in which case the media from the event will blend in with your normal timeline until it is done. And Twitter has said you’ll be able to embed these events across the web and in other apps, or view them even if you don't have a Twitter account.

“It’s a brand-new way to look at tweets,” Weil told BuzzFeed. “This is a bold change, not evolutionary.”

Unfortunately, users will still have to wait months before this feature is rolled out.

You can read more about Project Lightning over at BuzzFeed.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-announces-project-lightning-to-help-you-track-events-2015-6#ixzz3dQvOjapJ