People are really annoyed at Twitter for deleting their background pics

It’s replaced them all with a completely white background and it’s hurting everyone’s eyes.

Updated at 6.10pm

THOSE OF YOU who loaded up Twitter earlier today may have noticed something a bit different and no, it’s not a bug.

The latest change from Twitter has seen it get rid of customisable backgrounds on the desktop site. Now you’re just left with a clean and plain background which looks like this.

Twitter white background Twitter.com Twitter.com

Twitter didn’t announce the change, nor gave an official reason for why it happened. Instead, a Twitter spokesperson simply told Mashable that it was just being removed.

We’re removing background images from the home and notifications timelines on web for all users. Now, background images are only available where logged-in users will see them publicly (Tweet pages, list pages and collections pages).

Despite the change, the design option where you can change your background image and colour can still be found in settings. You can make changes but when you move to any other part of the site, it reverts back to white.

The only places where a custom background appears is when you view a specific tweet, list or collection (a group of tweets based around an event like the World Cup).

Users aren’t exactly happy with the change, initially thinking it was a bug before it was revealed to be a deliberate change.

Hey, Twitter, love ya, but the BLINDING white background you just imposed on everyone's pages is unacceptable. Fix it. @TwitterForNews
— Nina L. Diamond (@ninatypewriter) July 20, 2015

Nina L. Diamond / Twitter

So Twitter has decided to change all the profiles to a white background, the same thing Myspace did right before they went down in flames!
— DW SIN (@DW_Sin_) July 20, 2015

DW Sin / Twitter

Whoops!

We couldn't find this Tweet

Twitter has replaced all custom background with 'off-white'. Is this to ready us for new background ad formats?
— Matt Rhodes (@mattrhodes) July 21, 2015

Matt Rhodes / Twitter

The last tweet, while speculative, is a possibility. Twitter has been struggling to grow its user numbers for quite a while and has investors to please. If it can’t grow user numbers fast, then it’s better to grow revenue.

Its latest earnings report in April saw it post weaker-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2015 so it’s not a stretch to see it squeeze more ads into various places.

Giving the newsfeed a default background instead of a customised one would give it more control over what appears there. It could be used for something like commemorating a day or event (think Google Doodle) or a full-page ad in the background. But that’s largely speculative

Either way, just prepare your eyes the next time you decide to view Twitter on your browser.

sunlight Reactiongifs Reactiongifs

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