Pretty much nothing besides a generic non-homepage "homepage":
It is a shame considering Twitter has such great potential for the World Cup, and they should be embarrassed with the effort they have put forth. Here are some of my suggestions:
- Country Flags Next to Usernames
There needs to be a way for a user to represent their country of choice. One such way of doing this is to put country flags next to usernames so that whenever someone tweets, next to their name will be their country's flag.
Next to this users name should be the Iranian flag so I know what county this individual is associated from (assuming she is rooting for Iran). Don't automatically put a flag next to users obviously, but ask them if they'd like to "represent their team" with the flags next to their names.
While I'm on the subject of what should be next to a users username, the "@NegarMortazavi" should NOT be there. I never understood why Twitter put the @username in a tweet. Use this space for something such as my flag suggestion; it makes things prettier. No need for two names.
- Photoshop Material
There are bound to be plenty of photoshop material pictures, so there should be an account where one can see all these photoshops. One of the good things about Twitter is that the audience will do the work for you (the photoshops), all you need to do is create an account where one can see any/all photoshops.
- Flops
Whether one likes it or not, flops are prevalent in soccer and will be for the entirety of the tournament. A strategy should be formed around flopping. Maybe a flop count (form a hashtag so users can Tweet to this hashtag whenever there's a flop?)? How about faces of the players who are flopping when they flop? @FlopFace? Anything is better than nothing.
- Fans
There is nowhere I can go to see fan pictures. Make a central location where one can filter by country and see fan photos from each country's fans. I want to photos of those who are in Brazil, both in and out of the stadiums, as well as those who are in their home country celebrating. Additionally, funny fan moments is never a bad idea.
Twitter is also great for detecting subtle moments such as the picture above where this man was only on camera for a second or two but long enough for some people to see. Make a hashtag where users can submit content.
- "Best of"
- Celebrations
- Handshakes
- Dances
- Goals
- Fans
- Moments
- etc.
A goal celebration is a fantastic moment where teams not only celebrate the goal just scored, but it offers a chance for the players to represent their country in a unique way. Twitter should encourage a "competition" amongst teams and players to see who are the most creative/funny/whatever when it comes to celebrating.
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There are just a few. As time goes on and I watch/experience more World Cup, I'll come up with more.
Twitter undervalues the fact that they can make and promote accounts for ANYTHING. Why promote boring team accounts when you can find much more interesting/relevant content that connects with Twitters younger demographic? I can think of so many different accounts that would be appropriate for this event. One of Twitters goals should be to make accounts that are genuinely interesting enough that users want them on their timelines. I'm not sure how viable it is to make something where I'd be able to share a Tweet/photo to one of my friends on Facebook, but that should definitely be a goal as Facebook users will be much more willing to come over to Twitter if Twitter offers unique content.
