For any of you who still use the old version of Twitter, you may have noticed that the company has started to actively encourage users to switch the new version, which was unveiled last Fall. At the top of the Twitter.com page, users see a warning “You’re using an old version of Twitter. It won’t be around long,” with a button “Switch To New Twitter.” And Twitter is also asking those users who don’t want to switch to take a survey of why they won’t switch.

Using SurveyMonkey, Twitter first asks users why they haven’t switched. Then Twitter presents users with a list of the most common issues users have complained about with respect to the new version and asks users to rank how much they agree or disagree with each of the statements. These include, “I have to click an extra time to see my lists,” “Sometimes I just see a white screen when I log in,” “I don’t like change. Old Twitter is fine,” “There’s too much stuff. It feels cluttered.,” “It hides my background,” “I don’t like the 2 column layout,” and “I can’t find my Direct Messages.”

It looks like many users are participating in the survey. Twitter is nearing the point where it will discontinue use of the old version of Twitter, though we are not sure exactly when that will take place. The site recently suffered a bit of downtime and hiccups which could have been a result of the transition.

The company, which has used surveys in the past, is probably wise to start asking users who may have issues with the new interface how strongly they feel about these issues. Once Twitter does make the full-fledged switch, it should be interesting to see which tweaks the service makes in #New Twitter.

Crunchbase

• TWITTER

Company: Twitter

Website: twitter.com

Launch Date: March 21, 2006

Funding: $1.16B

Twitter, founded by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006 (launched publicly in July 2006), is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to post updates 140 characters long. Twitter “is a real-time information network that connects [users] to the latest stories, ideas, opinions, and news.” The service can be accessed through a variety of methods, including Twitter’s website; text messaging; instant messaging; and third-party desktop, mobile, and web applications. Twitter is currently available in...

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