Twitter improves search with ‘Top Tweet’ emphasis in apps, removes video services on iOS
Twitter has just released an update to its iOS and Android apps which features an improved search interface. As predicted by us, it has also removed support for video upload via Mobypicture in its iOS app.
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter has been refining search from Top News and Top People results in 2011 to visual previews for photos and video in 2012. The March 2013 app release brings that editorial choice into mobile search by putting a ranked set of posts at the forefront.
The same update removes Mobypicture from Twitter’s iOS upload path, pairing a discovery change with tighter control over a third-party media workflow.
First-order effects
- iOS and Android searchers are steered toward Twitter’s selected Top Tweets rather than encountering matching posts on equal footing.
- Mobypicture loses support for video uploads through Twitter’s iOS app, disrupting that workflow for its users.
Second-order effects
- Twitter’s ranking decisions become more important to publishers and users seeking visibility in mobile search, because placement in Top Tweets determines the first results people see.
- Mobypicture must contend with the loss of a Twitter iOS distribution channel while Twitter controls the remaining in-app path for those users.
Third-order effects
- The update points to mobile social platforms treating search as a ranked discovery surface, not simply a chronological archive of posts.
- Combining curated discovery with the removal of a third-party upload option concentrates control over both attention and media workflows inside Twitter’s apps.
The trend: Twitter is moving mobile search toward algorithmic discovery while narrowing third-party control over core app experiences.