Twitter has finally made a big move to become more competitive in social media -- or it's jumped the shark, depending on your point of view. On Tuesday, Twitter began rolling out a completely redesigned profile page that looks a lot like Facebook and Google+.

Twitter announced that it is beginning to roll out the new Twitter Profile page on Tuesday in a blog post. The company touted, "starting today, it will be even easier (and, we think, more fun) to express yourself through a new and improved web profile."

The new look features a larger layout in general, taking up more of your browser's screen than the simple vertical early Twitter users became familiar with. It has the extremely wide cover photo (1500 pixels max) at the top, which users familiar with Google+ and Facebook will recognize. Twitter also moved the avatar, or profile picture, to the left, a la Facebook, below which are users' biographical information, location, photos, trending topics, and other information.

Prominently placed in the middle of the page, in a larger format, tweets are displayed with more white space and big photos. But Twitter is also changing something else with how tweets are displayed. Tweets with more engagement, meaning more favorites, retweets, and replies, will appear "slightly larger" on the timeline, "so your content is easy to find," said Twitter in its announcement.

Twitter is adding in "pinned tweets" and filtered tweets as well. The first feature allows users to feature one of their posts at the top of their page, which is a nice little innovation for the self-promoters out there (i.e., everyone on Twitter). Filtered tweets basically takes a feature that many Twitter client apps have -- the ability to filter only tweets, tweets with media, or twitter conversations -- when you view other users' profiles.

Twitter says its rolling out the new features to everyone in the "coming weeks," but new users will immediately start with the new profile layout.

The Facebook Effect

Ever since its IPO on Wall Street, and subsequent first earnings report that largely disappointed investors, Twitter has been looking to expand its user base and revenue. The problem for Twitter was that it's always been somewhat of a niche social network with a bit of a learning curve for new users. Actions like tweeting, direct messaging, favoriting, following, and using hashtags can be seen as intimidating to novices. Even the 140 character limit -- the founding concept of Twitter -- is something to get used to. That's a problem Facebook -- with sharing functions so simple that teens are sick of their parents using it -- generally doesn't have.

A friendlier interface, especially for new users unfamiliar with the complexities of the 140 character-based social network, became a priority for Twitter. In an earnings conference call after the disappointing first report, for example, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo candidly admitted, "There's a lot we can do to significantly improve the user experience," adding, "We believe the changes we're making will lead to a much more satisfying user experience."

While Twitter die-hards worry about how the changes are leading to the "Facebookification" of their favorite social network, the company now has investors to satisfy, and new users to engage. Earlier this year, leaks pointed to Twitter experimenting with the layout of its users' homepage. Those potential changes now prove to be true.

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