Have you logged into Twitter recently?
Have you noticed anything different? Chances are if you have been to your own page, or someone you follow, you have been greeted by the blindingly bright, white background. This background is the default for Twitter instead of all those lovely, personalized backgrounds we’ve become accustomed to seeing. If you’re less than pleased with the change in your Twitter settings; you’re not alone.
SocialTimes recently posted an explanation, direct from Twitter, explaining why they removed everyone’s background images:
We’re removing background images from the home and notifications timelines on web for all users. Now, background images are only available where logged-in users will see them publicly (Tweet pages, list pages and collections pages). You can find help center content about customizing your design and where it’s visible on Twitter here.
Basically, the option to customize your background is still in the settings menu, but you have to dig for it. To change it back, click on your profile picture and select “settings.” From the selections on the left, choose “design.” You can then see the option to “change background” and be sure to save everything when you’re finished.
Most people are unhappy, but why did this happen?
Keep in mind, however, that your background will default to the blindingly bright white color whenever the site is refreshed. Judging from Twitter’s feed, most users are not happy with the default color of their backgrounds. It makes it difficult to read news, or do anything really, especially if you’re on a mobile device.
Some users believe this is Twitter’s way of prepping for more advertising. Remember we told you about Twitter’s dedicated pages? This may give businesses more freedom and space to advertise (and allows Twitter to make more dough).
For now, you’ll need to go in and manually change your settings if you want your old background back, otherwise, stay tuned to see what Twitter has in store for background advertising. Many suspect that ultimately, the backgrounds won’t be coming back.
