Twitter is experimenting with feeds sorted by "relevance" instead of time

Twitter is reportedly testing out a new format for user timelines, causing some folks, selected at random for testing, to be very confused.  Breaking away from the format used since it's inception, the Twitter feed isn't showing tweets in reverse-chronological order anymore. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a pattern to the way the tweets are displayed at all. 

However, in an emailed response to Motherboard, a spokesperson has said that Twitter is experimenting with the new format as a way to "surface the best content for people using Twitter". That translates to all-new algorithms that, if implemented fully, will lay out your Twitter feed exactly like your Facebook news feed; sorted by the service's judgement of relevance to you. 

And of course, people who've been given the new format are not happy about it. 

Twitter, you evil son of a... You are now shoving non-sponsored tweets into my timeline, out of order from people I don't follow. #UX #Fail

— Izzy Galvez (@iglvzx) December 9, 2015

Hey. @Twitter. This "timeline out of order" nonsense is exactly why I deleted Facebook. You are equally disposable. Don't do it.

— Rachel ❄ Sharp (@WrrrdNrrrdGrrrl) December 9, 2015

"Twitter experimenting with out of order timeline" Nice to see they're focusing on what matters: confusing the hell out of their users

— MOOMANiBE (@MOOMANiBE) December 8, 2015

I swear to god, @twitter, you take my timeline out of order and will mail the contents of my cat's litter box to your headquarters.

— AngerMonkey (@AngerMonkey) December 8, 2015

And this isn't only thing Twitter users have been upset about lately, there was also that time CEO Jack Dorsey saw fit to change the "Favourite" star button to a "Like" heart instead. However, this is easily the worse of the two. Consider the everyday user, who counts on Facebook for the unexpected statuses, but relies on Twitter to join in relevant political discussions, or celebrate a sporting victory. Additionally, consider journalists the world over that rely heavily on Twitter for breaking news updates from distant locations. Twitter might only be experimenting with the new feature, so it's possible this will die a quick death. But, in the meantime, folks are pretty annoyed that Twitter is cloning itself in Facebook's image, particularly when the difference is what might have drawn them to the platform in the first place.