Twitter has been given a significant overhaul in an effort to make the site easier to navigate and provide new functionalities, so V3 has taken a closer look at the changes to see how the new site compares to the original.

The first thing you'll notice is that your profile and news feed have been swapped around, so you'll need to get your bearings. The colour scheme has been changed to a darker shade of blue and Twitter has also culled a lot of tabs.

There are now three running along the top: Home, Connect and Discover. There's also a Profile icon on the far right that brings down a drop menu, and next to it is the Tweet button with a feather that allows you to instantly send a message.

The new Twitter:

The old Twitter:

The Connect tab allows you to search for other Twitter users and see whether anyone has mentioned you, messaged you, retweeted you or started following you.

Meanwhile, the Discover tab provides tweets based on your interests, current location, what you follow and events taking place to help you get more out of the site's non-stop flow of messages.

Taking a page out of YouTube's book, Twitter has added the ability to embed tweets. This allows users to post a tweet on a web site by pasting a line of code. Twitter users can then follow, reply, retweet or 'favourite' the tweet without visiting Twitter.

Meanwhile, companies can also enhance their profile pages to attract followers and promote services. There is the freedom to put a larger logo and header, and show pictures and links in a more prominent display. This is a nice touch that allows businesses to differentiate their profiles on the site by making them livelier.

The update is being rolled out across the desktop site over the next few days, while the mobile version, which incorporates the Discover and Connect tabs, is now available for all users, according to Twitter.

09 Dec 2011