This weekend, a report by Buzzfeed claiming that a new non-chronological Twitter timeline could be introduced within a matter of days sent internet commentators into disarray, leading to the hashtag #RIPTwitter trending globally.

The proposed timeline, which would reorder tweets based on what Twitter’s algorithm calculates people most want to see, a departure from the current feed’s reverse chronological order. The aim of this would be to address signal-to-noise problems.

Following a limited testing period which yielded positive results, the Buzzfeed post reported that the new timeline might be rolled out more broadly.

On 6 February, there was global online outcry as #RIPTwitter trended worldwide, with users voicing concerns that the new timeline would mimic that of Facebook. Chief executive officer took to Twitter to try to allay concerns, in a series of tweets:

However, several users have speculated that Dorsey did not discuss when timelines would be reordered, if at all. Others complained that the tweets were written in business jargon.

The proposed changes would be the latest in a series of attempts to attract new users, with the suggestion of an increased character limit also on the cards.