Twitter begins rolling out a preview of a revamped TweetDeck in the US, Canada, and Australia, featuring an option for wider columns, an Explore column, more
Twitter is beginning to test a completely redesigned version of TweetDeck, the company announced today.
9to5MacChance Miller
Context & Ripple Effects
This preview is the payoff of a long arc. Back in 2017 Twitter confirmed it was weighing a paid TweetDeck subscription aimed at brands and newsrooms, and in 2022 it shut down the standalone TweetDesk for Mac app while promising an upcoming Preview of the web version. The rollout now testing in the US, Canada, and Australia is that promised rebuild arriving.
It matters because TweetDeck is Twitter's professional surface — the tool newsrooms and heavy users actually live in — so its redesign doubles as the groundwork for whatever monetization Twitter attaches to it later. Meta's later test of TweetDeck-style stacked columns on Threads shows the layout itself became the template worth copying.
First-order effects
Power users and media professionals in the three test markets get wider columns and an Explore pane immediately, consolidating their workflow onto the web client after the Mac app's shutdown.
Twitter gains a live test bed in its heaviest-usage markets before committing the redesign globally.
Second-order effects
A polished, web-only TweetDeck gives Twitter the delivery mechanism for the subscription features it floated back in 2017 — analytics and alerts for brands — which materialized when access was later gated behind Blue.
Rivals take note of the column interface: Meta's experiment with stacked customizable feeds on Threads treats TweetDeck's layout as the proven pattern for web-based power browsing.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, free power-user tools become subscription wedges: platforms first rebuild the professional surface, then attach payment, shifting heavy users from default audiences to paying customers.
The trend: Social platforms are rebuilding their professional-grade tools on the web and converting them into paid tiers, with column-style dashboards becoming the standard interface for power users.
Starting today, we're rolling out a preview of the new & improved version of TweetDeck to a limited number of accounts, with enhanced functionality that incorporates more of what you see on https://twitter.com/. https://twitter.com/...
We're testing new features in TweetDeck for a small group in the U.S., Canada and Australia. These include a full Tweet Composer, new advanced search features, new column types, and a new way to group columns into clean workspaces. https://twitter.com/...
ICYMI, we're testing out a new and improved version of @TweetDeck. Think: ✍️ A full Tweet Composer 🔍 Advanced search features 🏛️ Column-grouping options Participants were randomly selected - if you're part of the group, Tweet us with your thoughts! https://twitter.com/...
Spoiler alert: They're planning to make it look like the garbage web client that everyone avoids in favor of current TweetDeck. It's as if they ask people what they want or need, then do the exact opposite. https://twitter.com/...
the whole point of TweetDeck is to live in The Matrix and have multiple columns scrolling past you in real time. making columns *wider* is the literal antithesis of this idea. https://twitter.com/...