Twitter Inc (TWTR)

[JohnSamuel]

By Jessica Marmor Shaw and Caitlin Huston , MarketWatch
A day after Twitter (TWTR) announced Jack Dorsey as its CEO, the social network unveiled a new product, called Moments, which will show curated tweets around certain news events or subjects.
(https://twitter.com/twitter/status/651382235162001409)
In case you're one of the users still waiting for Moments to show up in your Twitter interface (or you're not in the U.S. -- Twitter has said it's working on expanding Moments globally but as of Tuesday it is available to only U.S. users), here are a few examples, courtesy of Twitter's top brass:
(

If you only see one Moment, #SeeTheMomentWhen @jack's old beard pales in comparison to these World Beard Champs https://t.co/ACWWmSr2Sc

— adam bain (@adambain) October 6, 2015

)
(https://twitter.com/i/moments/651377861903937536)
(

Curious what our curation team is doing right now? Meet Marutaro the hedgehog: https://t.co/pW1ZlDzKy4 #seethemomentwhen

— Andrew Fitzgerald (@magicandrew) October 6, 2015

)
Moments shows up in the center tab of the Twitter app, and there are currently five sections available: Today, News, Sports, Entertainment and Fun.
Here are 5 of the most important things to know about Moments:
1. Moments emphasizes curation over the live stream
Most of the "moments" are being put together by a curation team at Twitter, according to the Moments guidelines and principles (https://about.twitter.com/company/moments-guidelines). That team won't be creating content -- just organizing and presenting "compelling content that already exists on Twitter."
How will they choose tweets to include? Twitter says it wants to feature "the most engaging conversations" and, for news events, will look for tweets coming direct from the scene.
Some "moments" will also be contributed by media partners, including BuzzFeed, Fox News , Mashable, MLB, NASA , the New York Times , Vogue and the Washington Post -- and Twitter intends to expand with more partners in the future.
Organizing and presenting content has become an important effort for technology companies today:
(https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/651388339359248384)
2. Twitter says it isn't taking on traditional news
Moments represents Twitter's first substantial effort to get away from the live stream that has been its hallmark (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-wants-to-change-but-timeline-spooks-investors-2015-07-28), and to make interesting stories easier to find and news events easier to follow -- both common user complaints.
But Twitter said in a live Periscope on the new feature Tuesday that they are not trying to take on traditional news outlets.
Twitter's product manager for Moments, Madhu Muthukumar , wrote in a blog post (https://blog.twitter.com/2015/moments-the-best-of-twitter-in-an-instant-0): "We know finding these only-on-Twitter moments can be a challenge, especially if you haven't followed certain accounts. But it doesn't have to be."
(https://twitter.com/SocialKimLy/status/651449385285500928)
That said, how Moments handles breaking news events could be a crucial element for Twitter to get right.
(https://twitter.com/rsa/status/651426688144908288)
(https://twitter.com/julieverhage/status/651449142800216065)
And the way Twitter describes its guidelines for "moments" sound pretty journalistic:
(

Twitter says its Moments team aren't reporters, but all this sure sounds familiar. https://t.co/v04t1WwOs3 pic.twitter.com/mYKvQQd5OR

— Matt Pearce 🦅🇺🇸 (@mattdpearce) October 6, 2015

)
3. Moments is not all about Harry Potter
The tab for Moments in the Twitter interface features a lightening bolt -- a reference to its previous name, "Project Lightening."
This has caused some confusion among users who associate the lightening bolt with something else:
(

It's weird that Twitter deviated from its "bird" theme for the "Moments" tab. The symbol reminds me of either The Flash or Harry Potter.

— Wendy Sparrow (@WendySparrow) October 6, 2015

)
(https://twitter.com/Kathsby/status/651424221659295744)
(https://twitter.com/hhoagie/status/651423970865074176)
4. Reviews are mostly positive so far, but Moments is geared toward new users
Analysts and investors will be closely watching to see if Moments will spur the user growth that Twitter has said it needs.
Meanwhile, power users are mostly giving it the thumbs up:
(https://twitter.com/ow/status/651386660576493568)
(

I know #TwitterMoments was mostly targeted at new users, but as an advanced user I'm loving it too. Great way to find and consume on Twitter

— Ryan Sarver (@rsarver) October 6, 2015

)
5. What about ads?
Twitter says there is no promoted content on Moments right now, but in the future they plan to invite brands to curate "moments."
- Jessica Marmor Shaw ; 415-439-6400; [e-mail]
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-06-15 1534ET