It’s clear that Twitter and NASCAR are a great match, and we’re working with NASCAR to bring fans even closer to the track.

On June 10, while the drivers are racing in the Pocono 400, you’ll be able to get closer to the action as it unfolds on the track with a special experience around the #NASCAR hashtag. During the race, we’ll curate accounts from the NASCAR universe and surface the best Tweets and photos from the drivers, their families, commentators, celebrities and other fans when you search #NASCAR on Twitter.com.

Time to go to work. twitter.com/KyleBusch/stat…

— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) April 27, 2012

We’ll have more to share about our relationship with NASCAR in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, this weekend you can follow the All-Star race and festivities via these accounts among others:

@NASCAR
@JimmieJohnson
@keselowski
@KyleBusch
@KaseyKahne
@JeffGordonWeb
@KevinHarvick

Cheering along with fellow fans during the biggest sporting events used to require being there in person, or at least heading to the nearest sports bar. Now, Twitter brings you closer to the roar of the crowd — and the roar of the engines.

Posted by: Omid Ashtari, Twitter Sports & Entertainment Team (@omid)

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With our special cast of live-tweeters, you can experience the show through the eyes of the artists themselves and celebrity music fans who will be watching as well. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to take the stage to perform in front of millions of viewers? You can find out by following @NellyFurtado, @AliciaKeys, and @CarlyRaeJepsen, all of whom will be tweeting from inside the awards throughout the evening — along with other hit acts like @RedFoo and @FarEastMovement.

Not every musician in the world is at the Awards, but just about all of them might be watching it! Watch along with artists like @nadiaali, @preciousweapons, @tranquilmammoth, and @brokenanchor1. And finally, a big night for music also brings out the stars from other areas of entertainment. Also watching and tweeting along will be actors like @juliannehough and @TheRealMikeEpps, fashion guru @NinaGarcia, author Sloane Crosley (@askanyone) and comedian @TracyMcMillan. So make sure you take a look at our list on the night of the Awards.

But before the big night even begins, check out our Billboard Music Awards list and follow all your favorite artists and the night’s hottest acts. During the show, you can follow the #BBMA hashtag to see these tweets and plenty more from musicians and fans around the world, and include it with your own Tweets to be a part of the conversation.

With Modern Family stars Julie Bowen (@itsJulieBowen) and Ty Burrell hosting, the night promises to be full of fun. Here’s a sneak peek of the antics that await — shared on Twitter, of course:

instagr.am/p/KneWXPIFUO/ getting ready for billboard awards with Ty and, of course, camera hog @DannyZuker.#bigeffinghair

— Julie Bowen (@itsJulieBowen) May 14, 2012

The Ty & I.(this pic will make more sense after u watch the #billboardAwards) instagr.am/p/KnRfT-oFfe/

— Danny Zuker (@DannyZuker) May 14, 2012

Posted by Grace Chu Lee, TV Partnerships Team (@gracelee)

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Whether it’s Broadway actors sharing an intermission break despite being in different shows, or photos from far away that pierce the mystique to show real, human people. Or (my favorite), if on your band’s tour you suddenly stumble upon the Most Awesome Story to Tell Your Friends — with Twitter, you tell it in real time.

Saturday Intermission Pictures
The Broadway community is a tight-knit crew. But on Saturday afternoons, when they’re all scattered across different theaters, how do they stay close? Intermission pictures!

Okay showfolk, if you’re in a show today, at intermission take a picture of yourself and tag it #SIP (Saturday Intermission Pic)

— Andrew Keenan-Bolger (@KeenanBlogger) May 12, 2012

My first #sip!On to the fourth act of the day! @YFTOUR twitter.com/ajholmesmusic/…

— A.J. Holmes (@ajholmesmusic) May 13, 2012

Hobbit/Ugandan realness. @scottbarnhardt @FashionistaMJS #SIP twitter.com/asmeretyemane/…

— AsmeretGhebremichael (@asmeretyemane) May 12, 2012

What Finch eats at intermission. #SIP #fatnewsie twitter.com/aaronjalbano/s…

— Aaron J. Albano (@aaronjalbano) May 13, 2012

Journalist Jacob Weisberg takes you to China
On a trip to China, journalist Jacob Weisberg has been tweeting out photos and observations. This is a great format for feature reporters. Tweeting on the ground doesn’t just have to be limited to breaking news. Jacob’s Tweets also offer an immediate and fascinating picture at life behind the Great Firewall.

Ai Weiwei taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. Or vice-versa. twitter.com/jacobwe/status…

— Jacob Weisberg (@jacobwe) May 15, 2012

Young Mao. Or possibly Beethoven. twitter.com/jacobwe/status…

— Jacob Weisberg (@jacobwe) May 17, 2012

Indie Band Picks up a Hitchhiking John Waters
John Waters was making his way across Ohio with his thumb and indie band Here We Go Magic picked him up. He rode in their van, and they reported the details of the incident on Twitter. (via DCist)

We found John Waters hitchhiking on the side of the 70 fwy, he bought us lunch. What a guy! @herewegomagic @turnerjen twitter.com/avtark/status/…

— Avtar K (@avtark) May 16, 2012

Posted by Andrew Fitzgerald, Manager, Editorial Programming (@magicandrew)

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Currently, when new users come to Twitter, we show them all almost the same suggestions for what or who to follow. That isn’t ideal. Since you have individual interests, you should get individual suggestions. After all, even though millions of people love Justin Bieber, FC Barcelona or Kim Kardashian, not everyone using Twitter may want to follow them. A football fan in Italy who loves to travel may want to follow @chiellini, @walksofItaly and @nytimestravel. An aspiring chef who loves to laugh can follow @epicurious, @seriousrecipes and @SteveCarell. And a mom whose son is traveling in Australia can feel connected to him and keep up with the latest news where he is by following @smh.

To make it easier and faster for everyone to get started on Twitter, we’re beginning some experiments with tailored suggestions in a number of countries around the world. The first experiment will show new users a list of accounts that we recommend you follow, alongside a timeline filled with Tweets from those accounts. If you’re part of the experiment, you’ll see a Twitter experience that’s relevant to you right when you sign up. (Of course, you can always choose to not follow the suggested accounts that don’t interest you.)

New users may see a list of tailored suggestions (left) and a timeline with Tweets from those accounts (right) as they sign up for an account.

New users may see a list of tailored suggestions (left) and a timeline with Tweets from those accounts (right) as they sign up for an account.

If you’re a current user, you may see tailored suggestions in Who to follow so you can constantly find interesting and relevant accounts that are new to you. In both cases, we hope it’s effortless for the Italian football-and-travel fan to follow @chiellini, @walksofItaly and @nytimestravel. To see which accounts we’d recommend for you, visit our preview page.

Current users may see tailored suggestions in “Who to follow”.

These tailored suggestions are based on accounts followed by other Twitter users and visits to websites in the Twitter ecosystem. We receive visit information when sites have integrated Twitter buttons or widgets, similar to what many other web companies — including LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube — do when they’re integrated into websites. By recognizing which accounts are frequently followed by people who visit popular sites, we can recommend those accounts to others who have visited those sites within the last ten days.

As always, we are committed to providing you with simple and meaningful choices about the information we collect to improve your Twitter experience. For those who don’t want to tailor Twitter, we offer ways to turn off this collection. As the Federal Trade Commission’s CTO, Ed Felten, mentioned earlier today, we support Do Not Track (DNT), which is reflected in our privacy policy as one of the ways you can indicate your preference. If you have DNT enabled in your browser settings, we will not collect the information that enables this feature, so you won’t see any tailored suggestions. We hope that our support of DNT highlights its importance as a privacy tool for consumers and creates even more interest and wider adoption across the web.

Additionally, new users will see an option to “Tailor Twitter based on my recent website visits” along with a link to “Learn more” when they create an account on Twitter.com. Current users will see a new “Personalization” section in account settings, with the same option to tailor Twitter. Of course, you can disable these options at any time, which will stop the collection of information for the feature and remove any tailored suggestions we have for you. You can even choose to turn off tailored suggestions from the preview page (which shows some suggestions we’d make for you).

Every day, experienced Twitter users are brought closer to the things they care about in unique, profound ways. Today’s experiment in providing tailored suggestions lets novice users go from zero to pro faster and more easily than ever before. So even if you’re not a football-loving Italian who wants to travel the world, we hope this experiment immediately makes Twitter yours, and you can start getting closer to the things you care about with just a few clicks or taps.

- Othman Laraki, Director, Growth and International (@othman)

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Stories feature a design similar to the recently updated Discover tab, emphasizing who shared each story beneath summaries to help you decide which ones matter most to you. Click any headline to finish reading the story, add your take by tweeting directly from the email, and see related Tweets from the people you follow.

This new email digest also features the most engaging Tweets seen by the people you follow, even if you don’t follow those who wrote them. You can see who from your network retweeted or favorited these Tweets and click “View details” to retweet, favorite, reply or view the conversation around them.

We’re rolling out this new email out to everyone over the next few weeks, so keep checking your inbox for new messages from Twitter. Like other Twitter email notifications, you can manage your preferences for this new digest in your Notification Settings.

-Othman Laraki, Director, Growth and International (@othman)

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Even though her comedy is often inspired by her family life, Mindy Kaling shared a sincere perspective on her relationship with her mom:

The best time in my life started when I realized my mom could also my best friend.

— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) April 26, 2011

Justin Bieber tweeted about the gift he’ll be giving his mom, and when his fans can get it too:

like i said on @mtv im gonna release the song i wrote for my mom #TurnToYou end of this week for Mother’s Day to raise money for charity

— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) May 7, 2012

Creator and star of HBO’s “Girls,” Lena Dunham lets us in on the rapport she and her mom share:

An email from my mom contains the phrase “she very annoyed me.” I just love her so much sometimes it gives me an ache.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) December 2, 2011

Twitter isn’t just a place to come to talk about your mom: it’s also a place to come to talk to your mom. Families use Twitter to keep in touch, and share their affection.

When actor Neil Patrick Harris posted a picture of his new twins, a very proud mother and grandmother quickly replied:

@ActuallyNPH wow. Those are the cutest children, well, among the top four children I’ve ever seen. s/ Mamaw

— Sheila Scott Harris (@gladsheila) March 17, 2012

After publishing her first book, Katherine Schwarzenegger shared her appreciation for the support from her mom, Maria Shriver, perhaps not coincidentally a public figure and best-selling author:

“@mariashriver: Amazing journey, Katherine. So proud of you. You are a gift from God.” best mommy ever!

— K Schwarzenegger (@KSchwarzenegger) April 27, 2012

What’s the secret to center-fielder Matt Kemp’s great start with the Dodgers this year? Maybe it’s the workout encouragement he and his mom share with each other:

Becuz ur a beast!!! RT @dodger27mom: @dodger27mom: cardio for 1.5 hrs on leg day wit squats sucks! Remind me why I do this please?

— Matt Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp) December 9, 2011

@dodger27mom: takes one to know one!!!!! RT@TheRealMattKemp: @TheRealMattKemp: Becuz ur a beast!!!

— Judy Henderson (@dodger27mom) December 9, 2011

Today, share your own mom memories and moments on Twitter. But flowers are still a good idea too.

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On Wednesday, President Obama expressed his support for gay marriage during a taped television interview. He quickly shared the news on Twitter, driving the conversation to its highest levels:

“Same-sex couples should be able to get married.”—President Obama

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 9, 2012

Gay marriage conversation peaked at 7,347 Tweets per minute at 3:22p ET yesterday. CHART: twitter.com/gov/status/200…

— Twitter Government (@gov) May 10, 2012

Elected officials from both sides of the aisle also turned to Twitter to voice their opinions about Obama’s announcement:

Historic day for justice and equality. Our United States President Obama endorses marriage equality. I rejoice in this announcement.

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 9, 2012

“Glad Pres finally laid out position to American ppl, but changing def of marriage isn’t something I can support” ow.ly/aOaXy…

— Senator Hatch Office (@SenOrrinHatch) May 9, 2012

While our @gov team tweeted their data about the gay marriage conversation via an embedded image, The Atlantic’s new business site “Quartz” turned their Tweets into infographics about cellphone usage:

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ Macao: 2.06

— Quartz (@quartznews) May 8, 2012

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ Cayman Islands: 1.78

— Quartz (@quartznews) May 8, 2012

Finally, it’s always fascinating to see how Twitter can bring people together. This week, a writer in New York casually noted that author @SalmanRushdie is following actress @MollyRingwald — and was in for a bit of a surprise when they both responded:

I love that @SalmanRushdie is following @MollyRingwald. What a weird world we live in.

— paulabernstein (@paulabernstein) May 8, 2012

.@MollyRingwald @paulabernstein That goes for me too.

— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) May 8, 2012

Posted by Andrew Fitzgerald, Manager, Editorial Programming (@magicandrew)

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In this updated version of mobile.twitter.com, you can see all the Tweets from the accounts you follow in the Home tab and check your @mentions in the Connect tab. You can see what’s trending in the Discover tab, and access your direct messages and Tweets in the Me tab.

Like Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android, mobile.twitter.com is fast, like a native mobile app; it uses one-third less bandwidth than the previous iteration. We’re rolling out this new mobile web experience starting today, and will continue to make Twitter the most accessible way to connect with the world, even with the weakest signals and the simplest devices.

- Satya Patel, VP of Product (@satyap)

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Today we were heartbroken to see the news that Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away. The news was shared via Tweets, passed around the world by fans whose lives had been touched by his work. And shortly thereafter came the memories— Tweets about listening to the Beastie Boys, Tweets about meeting “MCA”, Tweets about the impact his music had on all of music that followed. A flow of Tweets in which we were all sharing what this man meant to us as individuals, collectively.

I think this is something important about Twitter. On Twitter our individual memories become a collective history that is more powerful, more meaningful and more instructive than ever before.

RIP MCA
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed away this Friday. Across Twitter, musicians celebrated his work and remembered his impact on their lives and careers.

Remembering Junior Seau
After the suicide of Chargers linebacker Junior Seau, NFL player Eric Olsen remembered him on Twitter.

Re-living the Los Angeles riots
Twenty years ago LA erupted in a firestorm of riots after the Rodney King verdict. This year, NBC LA set up an account to tweet out updates from twenty years ago, exactly how and when they happened. These are excerpts from the first night of rioting.

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After recent experimentation, we introduced a slight redesign to every Tweet that flows through your timeline on Twitter.com. A Tweet may be our basic unit of communication, but it also contains a universe: each one has an identity with a username, real name and avatar; a 140-character message that includes text as well as metadata like time and language; some context (replies, favorites and retweets of that Tweet), and perhaps media (photos, videos or links).

Now, when you hover over the newly-redesigned Tweet, you’ll always see options to reply, favorite or retweet in the lower-left corner against a grey background.

If the Tweet contains media, you’ll also see specific options like “View photo” or “View video”; otherwise, you’ll see the option to “Expand”. You can expand any Tweet in your timeline to see inline context like favorites or retweets from other people, or additional Tweets from that same conversation. You can also click on any Tweet’s timestamp or “Details” to see that Tweet’s permalink, the unique web page for that Tweet.

We made these changes because this iteration showed a significant increase in engagement, the highest of all the implementations during our experiment. We hope you like this change, which we think makes all of the possible ways to interact with a Tweet more clear. Even more, we hope you don’t mind our ongoing experiments. We’re always curious to find new ways to delight you, and to improve your Twitter experience.

- Othman Laraki, Director (@othman)

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