In its first quarter earnings report, to be released today, Twitter will not be referencing timeline views, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Timeline views are counted each time a user visits Twitter, refreshes his or her timeline, of conducts a search. The metric is an indication of active user engagement.
Twitter CFO Anthony Noto warned last year that the metric would likely be discarded, saying that it had become a distraction for investors. The timeline views figure underestimates total number of views, because many tweets are viewed elsewhere than in the main home feed, and search, and often viewed on platforms other than Twitter.
Some analysts are seeking a replacement metric with which to gauge user activity, especially as growth in total users slows. Suggestions include minutes spent on Twitter, number of ad engagements, and Facebook’s metric: the number of users signing in daily.
