2018 FIFA World Cup: What to know
2018 FIFA World Cup: Where is it taking place, how many teams are playing and how does the tournament work?
Twitter is getting ready for the World Cup with a host of new features geared toward soccer fans.
The social media site has launched a dedicated page for the competition, which starts later this week. Individual pages will also be featured for every game, including scores, tweets, videos, and Moments, explained Keith Coleman, vice president of Product at Twitter, in a blog post. “You can find these pages at the top of your timeline, in search, or in Explore!” he wrote.
The World Cup kicks off Thursday in Moscow when host nation Russia takes on Saudi Arabia in the tournament’s opening game.
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MarketWatch reports that the competition is important for Twitter, which enjoyed a boost in engagement and revenue during the 2014 World Cup, held in Brazil. Citing analysts, MarketWatch notes that since the last World Cup, the Jack Dorsey-led company has ramped up its efforts around video.
Earlier this year, Twitter announced a partnership with FOX Sports for World Cup content. FOX Sports is owned by the same parent company as Fox News.
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The World Cup updates are among a host of new features announced by Twitter on Wednesday. These include efforts to make Explore easier to navigate. “We’re now experimenting with topic tabs in Explore so it’s easier to see what’s happening in news and entertainment, and what’s most relevant to you,” wrote Coleman, explaining that the tabs will be available to U.S. users over the coming months.
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“We’re also launching updates to search to make it simpler to find what you’re looking for,” he added. “Starting today, at the top of search results, you’ll see related news, events, or stories and be able to tap in to get a recap and see the latest discussion, videos or scores.”
Additionally, Twitter is expanding the “Happening Now” sports feature it introduced last year. Initially designed to let fans follow along with tweets about specific games and scores, it is being expanded to include tweets about breaking and personalized news. “At the top of your timeline, you’ll see news that’s relevant to you along with the surrounding Tweets and videos,” Coleman penned, adding that the feature will be available to U.S. users in the coming months.
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Twitter is also revamping its ‘Moments’ feature. Currently, users swipe horizontally through Moments, although Twitter’s research reveals that user would prefer to swipe vertically. “We’re starting to introduce this new vertical timeline experience for Moments,” Coleman noted.
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Furthermore, Twitter is rolling out multiple timelines in some U.S. Moments. “You may have already noticed these changes for some sports games, but now you’ll start to see them for more news and events as well,” Coleman wrote.
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