Twitter Update Sends Follow Suggestions via Mobile Alerts

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By Kurt Wagner2013-09-24 22:37:47 UTC

Twitter will more actively share personalized recommendations about which accounts users should follow, the company announced Tuesday. Users will now receive push notifications through Twitter's mobile apps if a number of accounts in their network begin to follow someone new, or retweet or favorite the same tweet.

"If you’re like me, you occasionally feel like you’re missing out on some of the day’s great Tweets, or that you’re the last to find out when someone awesome joins Twitter," wrote Venu Satuluri, a senior software engineer at Twitter, on the company's blog. "We wanted to tackle that problem."

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Twitter was already tackling that problem for a handful of users that followed the company's @MagicRecs account. This experimental account sent recommendations to users by direct message, suggesting accounts to follow based on activity within the network. Twitter says it has been tweaking that algorithm to better identify which accounts or tweets users may be interested in, resulting in Tuesday's update.

Android and iOS users will receive the update today, and can toggle the new feature on and off in settings. Twitter says it will continue to operate @MagicRecs, and followers of the account will continue to receive recommendations through direct messages instead of push notifications.

How do you feel about Twitter sending you personalized follow recommendations? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: Mary Turner/Getty Images

Topics: discovery, @MagicRecs, Recommendations, Social Media, Twitter