• Twitter Blog et al., Wednesday, March 31, 2010 1:44 PM

In lieu of a major monetization strategy, Twitter has relaunched its homepage, which -- with more user-friendly and dynamic features -- repositions the platform as more than a mere feed for status updates.

This marks the second time that Twitter has redesigned its home page in less than a year, notes paidContent, which describes the company as "still trying to do a better job of making itself accessible to the new Tweeter."

Seconds ReadWriteWeb: "Given that Twitter has always had a hard time converting new users to regular users, this new homepage is clearly an attempt to better explain the service's features and functionality to new users."

What's more, Twitter Creative Director Doug Bowman even admits that the microblogging service is having trouble selling itself to many potential users. "People who internalize the value of Twitter understand the power of this simple medium," he writes on the official Twitter blog. "But it hasn't been easy to make that value transparent or obvious for curious folks coming to Twitter for the first time."

To illustrate broader issues with Twitter's user base, PC World cites a recent study by BarracudaLabs, which found that just 21% of Twitter account holders have at least 10 followers, follow at least 10 people and have posted at least 10 "tweets" -- the parameters BarracudaLabs chose to separate active from inactive users.

Still, "Aside from being simply more aesthetically pleasing than the old one, [the new homepage] does a much better job of showing new users what the service is actually about," comments Fast Company. "The redesign should give prospective Twitter users a better pitch for why they should start using the network."

Agrees Digital Beat: "This latest iteration looks like it may finally fix all of Twitter's past homepage issues."

Read the whole story at Twitter Blog et al. »