Twitter debuts new design

Dec 8, 2011, 22:00 GMT

San Francisco - Microblogging site Twitter unveiled a redesign of its website Thursday designed to ease participation in the popular social network.

The new format will be rolled out to users around the world by the end of the year, with the aim of broadening the site's appeal both for experienced users and those who may be deterred by often-used symbols such as '#' and '@'.

The rejigged format also makes it easier to embed and view photos within tweets.

'We've simplified the design to make it easier than ever to follow what you care about, connect with others and discover something new,' Twitter said in a statement.

The company says the new design will maintain the look and feel of Twitter over all platforms, and will use several tabs to navigate around the site: Home, Connect, Discover, Me, and Tweet.

'As other services tack feature after feature after feature on top of each other, we're going to go in an entirely different direction and offer simplicity in a world of complexity,' Twitter chief Dick Costolo said. 'This new Twitter is really a foundation for us.'

Twitter claims that over 100 million people actively use the service. The privately-owned company is valued at over 8 billion dollars.