New Twitter is a bold move in the right direction! Evolve or die is precept that has proven itself true in regards to the longevity of social networks. Myspace being the prime example a site that didn’t release timely updates to keep up with its swifter rival Facebook. With a financial power house like Google entering the social networking space, it has become even more vital that the incumbents, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn roll out new features to remain relevant to loyal users and advertisers.

With the impending roll out of yet another ‘New Twitter‘ it is clear that the features arms race won’t be coming to an end anytime soon. While many users will complain, some are already comparing the new column layout to Myspace. I maintain that this is exactly what Twitter needs to remain competitive with Google Plus’ media heavy social stream and Facebook’s all new Timeline.

In Line Media:

Twitter has finally embraced in-line media via expandable tweets. Now you can view images and video in-stream instead of the awkward side bar pop up of the past.

In Line Media

Twitter Branded pages:

Twitter’s advertising model has long been scrutinized in terms of its validity to rake in massive profits. In swift move to address the naysayers, Twitter brought out the big guns for the launch of branded enhanced profile pages. Like Facebook and Google Plus before it, Twitter knows that branded pages are a must for winning over advertisers in order to take Twitter from a venture backed company to a self sufficient realtime discovery and advertising engine.

Twitter Branded Pages

Here are a few of the brands that have already signed up.

@AmericanExpress, @BestBuy,@bing, @chevrolet, @CocaCola, @Dell, @DisneyPixar, @generalelectric,@Heineken, @HP, @intel, @JetBlue, @Kia, @McDonalds, @nikebasketball,@NYSE_Euronext, Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible – @GhostProtocol,@pepsi, @Staples, @subwayfreshbuzz, and @VerizonWireless.

The Discover Tab:

Twitter is now re-branding the hashtag as the Discover tab. Clicking discover will now bring you a curated list of all the top trending topics across Twitter, including images and video all in one place. Accessing and tracking realtime news events just got a whole lot better, it’s as Twitter has created a new photo journal version of trending topics.

Discover tab New Twitter

Unifying the entire Twitter experience:

In move to ensure that the Twitter brand is consistent and accessible across all platforms, new apps have be rolled via iOS devices, Android and Tweetdeck. Having tried out the new Twitter for iPhone, I can attest to it’s clean design, smooth scrolling and media rich interface.

iOS New Twitter

What do you think, has Twitter’s latest platform changes made it a stronger to competitor for Facebook and Google? Will more advertisers embrace branded pages?  Let us know in the comments below.

You can follow me here: @KevinMinott