Twitter is not a social network

As Twitter introduces its new design, an executive from the company says that Twitter is not a social network.

In a recent presentation, Twitter’s VP for business and corporate development, Kevin Thau refused to define the micro-blogging platform as a social network.

The executive was highlighting Twitter’s potential as a news source.

Twitter this week introduced a major redesign to its website that aims to establish its credentials as a serious content platform. The update is rolling out to its users as a preview and everyone will have the updated version in some weeks time.

The service introduces a new pane on the right of the page for viewing photos, videos, and other media content. This means that external content providers with whom Twitter has made partnerships to display their content can have their content displayed on Twitter.

The new design updates the timeline view by adding buttons for mentions, retweets, searches, and lists just above the timeline.  Other features include making finding related content easier and the introduction of mini profiles which can be seen when a username is clicked

At Chirp, Twittter's developer conference, the company shared some stats on its growth. Twitter is still growing with most new growth taking place outside the US, with markets such as Japan, Indonesia and Brazil recording the highest growth.