Nine months after the earthquake, Haiti is now shelled with another crisis: a cholera outbreak in the western region. More than 300 people have died so far, and aid organizations of all sizes are working to provide rapid support to contain it.

We're intrigued by the new Red Cross Twitter account, @kwawouj, which was created specifically for this outbreak to send updates in Haitian Creole that direct locals to the resources they need on the ground.

Thanks to the support this weekend from Voila, one of Haiti's leading wireless communication providers, locals using their service were encouraged to follow @kwawouj’s cholera updates via SMS through our fast follow function. This new feature is the quickest way to begin receiving updates from a Twitter source on your mobile phone without having a Twitter account of your own. Since the launch of @kwawouj, over 1,000 people without accounts have opted to receive important Tweets relevant to this particular crisis through the Fast Follow feature.

It's wonderful to work with a mobile partner like Voila who is on a similar mission to provide the best tools possible to help strengthen the region through connectivity. We are working to build similar relationships with carriers around the world that have the potential to engage their customers through collaboration.

The Red Cross account is currently in our Promoted Tweets for Good program through Hope140, which gives special ad platform benefits to selected non-profits who are using Twitter for their campaign. Follow @hope140 to stay updated on this type of news and to provide feedback on how Twitter could be used effectively as a force for good.

To see how mobile updates can be used to connect victims with resources, check out information on crisis mapping of the cholera outbreak here.

Today we’re releasing an updated version of Twitter for Android, which includes some awesome enhancements and introduces a more consistent experience across our mobile clients.

• Tweet details page. We changed the layout of the timeline and introduced a Tweet details page, which you can access by simply clicking on a Tweet. This feature – which is already available in Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for iPad and Twitter for Windows Phone – makes it easier to click on links and reply to, retweet, or favorite a Tweet.
• Speed. The app is now even faster. In this version, we’ve tried a new way of drawing a timeline of Tweets that optimizes for scrolling speed. Try it out, and you'll see how much faster and smoother the timeline loads and scrolls.
• Polish. We added some more nice touches to the application as well:
• Pull to Refresh: This popular feature, which was first available through our iPhone app, functions just as it sounds – when you’re at the top of your timeline, simply pull down to load new Tweets.
• Swipe to Reveal: Swipe across a Tweet to get quick access to several options, such as viewing a user’s profile, sharing a tweet, or replying.
• Quote a Tweet: Clicking the retweet icon now gives you the option to quote a Tweet. Of course, you can still retweet as you normally would.
• Hi-res avatar photos

Tomorrow the balance of power in both houses of Congress is up for grabs, as is control of more than half of the nation's gubernatorial seats. Many of the races are still too close to call, and debates are raging about how the 2010 midterm elections will change the country. This is also the first election day you'll be able to follow in its entirety--via text and video--on Twitter.com.

We've rounded up some illuminating accounts and coverage below. But remember: none of this matters if you don't vote.

Parties and Candidates
Follow different sides of the conversation by checking out Twitter feeds from the Democrats (@thedemocrats), the Republicans (@gopconference), the Tea Party (@TPPatriots), and the Libertarians (@LPNational). @CSPAN has also compiled comprehensive lists of all the House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates on Twitter.

Election Coverage
Our @twittermedia team is working with top media outlets to integrate Tweets into their election coverage--and to bring that coverage onto Twitter.com.

When we launched Promoted Tweets in April, we outlined our plan for gradually rolling them out in all of the places people experience Twitter: first in search on Twitter.com, later in search through our partners, and eventually in the user timeline. We’ve accomplished the first two steps and, starting today, we are beginning to test syndication of Promoted Tweets in user timelines. Initially, we are testing these with our partner, HootSuite.

As we have done since the beginning of our Promoted product efforts, Twitter is taking a deliberate and thoughtful approach to this test. We’re carefully looking at how Twitter users react to and engage with Promoted Tweets in the timeline. We want to display Promoted Tweets in a way that’s both useful and authentic to the Twitter experience.

During this testing period with HootSuite, we will experiment with where and when Promoted Tweets are shown in the timeline. Not all HootSuite users will see Promoted Tweets and those who do may see different Promoted Tweets in different places in their timeline. As with Promoted Tweets in search, we will display Promoted Tweets in the timeline when they are relevant. Similar to our Promoted Account recommendations, we use several signals to determine a Promoted Tweet’s relevance to a user, including the public list of whom they follow. We will expand the rollout only when we feel we're delivering a high-quality user experience.

Since their introduction, users have engaged with Promoted Products on Twitter at rates that far exceed typical forms of online advertising. This next phase will bring Promoted Tweets to a wider audience and help even more people discover interesting accounts, people and information they may otherwise have missed.

We’ve refreshed our logos, buttons and widgets to bring the improved look and experience of the new Twitter to your website or blog.

Go to our resources page to add new Twitter widgets, buttons, and logos to your site. These resources are free for you to use, as long as you follow the updated Guidelines for Use of the Twitter Trademarks.

There is a new addition to our mobile family: Twitter for Windows Phone. This Twitter client is available now for all Windows Phone 7 devices. We want you to be able to get Tweets quickly and easily, no matter what device you’re using, and the clean design of the Windows Phone platform is particularly great for this.

As with our other mobile clients, Twitter for Windows Phone includes all of the features that you’d expect from Twitter - your timeline, suggested users, messages, lists, and a great way to explore Twitter without even logging in. You can sign up for an account right from the app as well. The app is really fast, and we think you’ll enjoy the experience.


The platform’s design and user interface, which is called Metro, is especially great for Twitter users because it’s simple and easy to use. It also provides a different way to look at information on a phone’s screen through Pivots, which are sort of like pages of the app. Pivots allow you to swipe left or right to view different categories or types of information within a single application. For example, in Twitter for Windows Phone, you can swipe left or right to move from your timeline to mentions to direct messages.

We dug into the platform with a development partner, IdentityMine, who helped us get started creating our application. We used an open source REST API library, Tweet Sharp, as the foundation for our app, and IdentityMine will release some significant improvements back into open source for everyone to use.

We look forward to creating more innovative experiences on the Windows Phone 7 platform (and everywhere)!

Now that the free-agency dust has settled and the first @NBA games are happening tonight, it’s time to see how the 2010-2011 season will unfold. Will the #lebrondecision to join @chrisbosh and @dwadeofficial on the @MiamiHeat be the right one? Will the @Lakers repeat as World Champions? While we don’t have those answers for you, we do have some tips on how to stay up-to-date on the last NBA news.

While the games will be happening offline, the conversations around the game and among players will be happening online on Twitter. Whether or not you can make it to the game, you can be part of the action. All thirty teams are on Twitter, as are many of the superstars in the league: @kingjames, @the_real_nash, @carmeloanthony, and @kdthunderup, among others.

With new Twitter, you can see embedded pictures and videos right on Twitter.com – giving you access to players that you couldn’t get even with courtside seats. You can get to know your favorite players better, discover new players, and get insight into their lives off the court. Take a look at @stephencurry30 of the @warriors sharing a picture of his teammate, or a photo of @amareisreal with one of his celebrity friends. Teams are also starting to host tweet ups before games and often give away gear, tickets, or player meet-and-greets.

With Twitter, the water cooler chatter about who’s an all-star and who’s a pretender can happen in real-time. Who will you follow this year?

Ah, profile backgrounds. The wardrobe of your online self. Now that the Twitter.com interface has been overhauled, it's the perfect time to toss last year’s look and freshen up with a new one.

An easy place to start is by navigating to your settings page and clicking on the Design tab to choose one of Twitter’s home-made backgrounds. For more options, check out tweetygotback.com and search through racks of patterns to fit your style. They’re loaded with artwork from Threadless, NASA space images, and graphics from featured artists around world.

Feeling ambitious? Custom-tailor your own background using Themelon tool built by COLOURlovers. You can choose custom background images, then adjust your color pallette to complement your new look.

Need specifics for your design? Here are a few helpful things to note, courtesy of our friends at Mashable:

• The opacity of the details pane is about 75%
• The main timeline is a static 540 pixels wide
• The details pane ranges in size based on screen resolution and covers 380-500px.

When you’re done, don’t forget to Save your sweet new style - either from the service you’re using or from your settings page. Then you’ll be ready to post tweets that represent you as well as your new look.