Twitter debuts ‘Moments’ feature to highlight top stories

This screen shot made Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015 shows the News section of Twitter’s new ‘Moments’ feature, as displayed on an iPhone. The feature will showcase top stories being discussed, even if you don’t follow the tweeters. AP

NEW YORK, United States — Twitter on Tuesday launched a new feature called “Moments” that helps highlight the top stories being tweeted.

The feature will showcase top stories being discussed, even if you don’t follow the tweeters. It can be found by tapping a lightning bolt icon tab on the site or app. It will update the “Moments” throughout the day.

The “Moments” are a mix of news and fluffy trending topics. For example, two “Moments” on Tuesday included tweets about the South Carolina floods breaking dams and a pygmy hedgehog called Marutaro.

Twitter, which limits posts to 140 characters, has been trying to find a way to make the site easier to navigate and broaden its appeal beyond media junkies, athletes, celebrities and politicians. The short messaging service has amassed more than 300 million users but its growth has been slowing.

Meanwhile, Facebook has 1.5 billion people on its online social network and even its photo-sharing application, Instagram, has surpassed Twitter in size.

The news comes a day after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey returned officially to the San Francisco company as CEO.

Shares fell $1.16, or 4 percent, to $26.99 during midday trading.