Twitter’s tweaks debuted in a Thursday update to its software for smartphones and tablet computers. The new look will be gradually rolled out on its website during the next few weeks.
The revisions aren’t a matter of desperation for Twitter, which entrepreneur Jack Dorsey invented within another startup in 2006. Twitter has become a vital communications tool and a virtual water cooler for discussing the topics of day, be it sports, entertainment or an overthrow of a Middle East regime.
Twitter now has more than 100 million active users who post an average of 250 million messages, or “tweets,’’ a day. The company says the growth in new accounts has increased by 25 percent since October, when Twitter became a feature in the operating system that runs Apple Inc.’s latest iPhones and iPads.
Even so, Twitter executives concluded they needed to make the service even simpler to use and understand to reach its long-term goal of exceeding 1 billion active users.
The facelift is an attempt to “bridge the gap between the awareness of Twitter and the engagement on Twitter,’’ company CEO Dick Costolo said.
Dorsey, who was cast aside as Twitter’s CEO in 2008 only to return as executive chairman this year, played an instrumental role in the makeover. He appeared alongside Costolo on Thursday at a media event to celebrate the changes.
With the overhaul, Twitter hopes to attract more of the technology neophytes that have flocked to Facebook — a social network with 800 million worldwide users — from digital wizards to the Auntie Ems of the world.
Twitter wants to reach its goal with fewer bells and whistles than Facebook, which offers new things to do and more ways to do them every few months.
“We are going to offer simplicity in a world of complexity,’’ Costolo said.
By avoiding clutter, Twitter believes it will have a better chance to remain accessible in remote parts of the world, where Internet connections might be clunky and devices might not be as sophisticated.
The streamlined approach is also meant to ensure Twitter runs quickly. The company says its latest adjustments will make the messaging service about five times faster.
