Twitter now suggests users to follow in your home timeline on iOS and Android

Twitter is tweaking what you’ll see on the home timeline when using its mobile app. Besides Tweets from those you follow, ads, and Tweets you may have missed, the company is adding interesting accounts to the mix. This feature will be shown on Twitter’s iOS and Android app starting today.

Displaying interesting users on Twitter’s mobile apps isn’t new — such recommendations are already showing up on profile pages. However, now they’re going to be prominently shown on what is probably the highest trafficked area: the home timeline.

https://twitter.com/twitter/status/639913479759990788

Just who are these Twitter-suggested users? The feature may draw comparisons to Twitter’s Suggested User List of yesteryear, but the company has provided insights in the past into how these recommendations are selected. Specifically, it’ll draw on your email and phone contacts, “as well as patterns from your following history.” Likewise, if someone who has your contact information adds it to Twitter, they may show up as an interesting account.

According to a support article in Twitter’s Help Center, suggestions may also include users based on your location or could include Promoted Accounts. If your Tweets are protected, Twitter will not use them in its algorithm for recommendations.

Naturally, this update offers benefits, in that it can help users discover new people to follow and continue to keep them engaged with one another. Over the years, Twitter has made adjustments to its apps in order to aid discovery, including the rollout of a Discover tab (which was killed off in April).

Users may have already noticed changes to their home timelines, including the appearance of Tweets from people they haven’t been following but their friends have engaged with. With this new feature, you’ll have an even better chance of discovering more people who are just as interesting as yourself.