This afternoon, Twitter announced that it had officially, and secretly, filed documents to the S.E.C. in advance of its I.P.O. The company is worth billions upon billions of dollars, and its founders will become extremely rich sometime in the next year. But Twitter, as we experience it, is also set for a radical redesign sometime soon. The company’s finances are set to change; but its looks may be changing just as much.
Twitter has evolved, particularly over the past couple of years, from a simple, text-based service toward something richer and fuller: users can now embed everything from pictures to Vines to full-on mini-apps within their tweets. It’s like a stream gradually becoming a raging river. Twitter has transitioned from a technology company into a powerful media company in its own right.
What’s coming next is a more graphically intense Twitter that is marked by fundamental transformation of its core experience on mobile phones. Within the company, the decision has been to prioritize mobile over any other medium, including the Web, and it will see the most change the most rapidly....
This is an odd move by Twitter. I don't think it will help attract new users but rather confuse its loyal user base. It isn't just a news app although it's very good at that. In many respects, this move is guaranteed to push away the younger demographic.