Twitter tests a new way to find accounts to follow

Twitter is testing a new way to follow accounts. The company announced today it’s rolling out a new feature, “Suggested Follows,” that will pop up a list of other accounts you may want to follow on the profile page of someone you had just followed. The feature will be tested on Android devices, for the time being.

The feature offers a tweak to how following currently works on mobile. At present, when you tap “Follow” on a user’s profile page, you’re presented with a small list of suggested accounts you may also want to follow.

Twitter explains that its accounts suggestions are based on a number of factors, and are often personalized. But in the case of suggested follows, it uses algorithms to determine what accounts may be related to the profile you’ve just visited, or if people who follow that user tend to follow certain other users.

Now testing on Android: You may see a suggestion to follow a group of relevant accounts on the profile page of someone you just followed. You can instantly add all the accounts with a single tap and easily remove the ones you don’t want to follow. pic.twitter.com/fayS9uIFvV

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 6, 2020

That’s why, for example, when you follow someone whose profiles notes they work at a particular company, the Suggested follows may then include others who also work there. Or why when you follow a celebrity of some sort, you may be presented with other high-profile accounts as suggestions.

Before, however, you would have to tap on the suggestions one by one if you wanted to follow them. Twitter’s new test instead, groups a larger number of suggestions that you can follow with just one tap. You can then opt to remove those accounts you may not want to follow after first adding the full group.

This could make it easier for users to gain follows, if their account is related somehow to another account that’s seeing a high number of follows. It could also help Twitter newcomers build out their networks, while helping existing users expand their own.

Some Twitter users may have already seen the feature in action, before today.

Twitter says the test is taking place on Android. The company didn’t note if or when the feature would expand to iOS.