Twitter says it is rolling out a feature that lets users follow topics the way they do people. It will begin with sports and K-pop. This is part of its efforts to bring in and keep more users on the service.

 

Twitter will make the new “Topics” option available to its users on Android and iOS devices or through web browsers by 13th November.

 

“We are starting with topics that have the most volume on Twitter for now — sports, K-pop. And you’ll see us add in even more on a week to week basis,” Twitter told AFP.

 

Twitter earlier this year disclosed plans to provide users with the option of following any of a small number of interests.

 

The one-to-many messaging platform planned to roll out the feature internationally. This comes as it prioritises being an online venue for conversations rather than a pulpit for one-way broadcasting to the masses.

 

“We are basically rewriting the entire conversation service,” Twitter product team leader Kayvon Beykpour said during a briefing at the company’s San Francisco headquarters in August.

 

 

Twitter has always let users follow accounts. However, the new feature will let users opt into following certain sports teams or categories on a curated list.

 

For example, sending or interacting with tweets about a team might prompt a query. It will ask whether the user wants to “follow” that team or stay in the know about what others say on Twitter on the topics.

 

There will be an ability to “mute” topics to avoid seeing the score of a sporting match, for example.

 

Topics people follow will show up in their profiles as long as they sign up for the interest. According to Twitter, “interests” like football or cricket are meant to be lasting rather than passing hot topics.