The social networking website Twitter announced last week that it would be reconstructing its site with a list of new features.

The update, touted as the “New Twitter,” is currently being tested among a select number of users and is expected to be available to the public by October.

In the transition to the new website, Twitter will first test a redesigned layout that now uses two columns, with the intentions of offering quicker access to tools, messages and features that users are accustomed to.

Carla Pendergraft, a Waco freelance web designer and director of the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been tracking Twitter since its launch.

Pendergraft said one notable improvement is the change from a vertical to a horizontal menu, giving the option to save any changes made or access other system functions.

Audrey Waggoner, a Raleigh, N.C., graduate student at Baylor’s School of Social Work, is looking forward to the new Twitter website.

“I usually update it once a day,” Waggoner said. “But I check it more often than that.”

Waggoner, who operates a Twitter page called “Audwaggs,” said Twitter’s search function could benefit from an update.

“When you try to click on some of the followers, you have to go through the list to find who you’re looking for,” Waggoner said. “I can never find what I’m looking for.”

Houston sophomore Dannie Dinh is more focused on how the new design will appear. “I’d like to see graphic settings for the site,” Dinh said. “Right now it looks a little bland.”

Since its release, Twitter has influenced the creation of third-party websites that aim to simplify or complement Twitter with additional services.

Twitter has acknowledged this by allowing users to integrate services from websites such as TwitPic, TwitGoo and TwitVid. Integration will also be added for other major websites, such as Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.

There is also a wide availability of third-party software that allows people to “tweet” directly from a computer desktop or mobile phone.

“I use a client called Tweet Deck,” Pendergraft said. “A lot of Twitter remained the same for so long, so third-party developers were forced to release their own clients.”

In March, Twitter announced that it would allow users to post their location using GPS. This was viewed as a response to websites such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook’s location service called Facebook Places.

In February, Google claimed its stake in the social-networking industry by announcing the release of Google Buzz, a website that offers the ability to share status updates, photographs and other things.

Google hopes that by integrating Google Buzz with its heavily used Gmail web-based e-mail client, it will drive users away from Twitter. But so far, that hasn’t been the case.

“Facebook tried. Google has tried,” Pendergraft said. “But there’s no killer Twitter app. They still own that space. The closest competitor is Facebook.”

According to a report posted in May by the Nielsen Company, a firm that measures media ratings, Twitter has grown 69 percent since 2009.

Major current events, such as the 2010 World Cup, have generated massive spikes in traffic to Twitter’s website.

“It’s grown astronomically,” Pendergraft said. “The curve is so incredible. People are finding out about the various uses of it.”

Many celebrities use Twitter as a promotional tool. Currently, the most popular Twitter account is held by musician Lady Gaga, who has more than 6 million followers.

Pendergraft said reaching fans with Twitter is a growing trend among celebrities wanting to promote themselves, adding that some may spend too much time using it.

Pendergraft said Twitter has become an outlet for local businesses as well. By conducting a search for a certain word that has been “tweeted,” businesses have increased sales by reaching customers in other cities who need their products.

“Twitter has so many uses that people aren’t aware of,” Pendergraft said. “We all need to be on Twitter.”