Twitter recently announced new features that would widen its appeal in a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. This social networking site will now provide user specific information for new members according to certain signals like their location.

A senior executive recently stated that it was not just a visual make over but a conceptual one that the site underwent. This new design will showcase a whole new section on Twitter. This new section called “stories” will appear on every users’ account and display potentially interesting stories. The company currently boasts of 100 million users that are spread over a broad international base.

The company hopes to become a leader in the online ad business, but there are some obstacles. A primary one being users are unaware of how to use and interpret symbols like “#” and “@”. However, this online business is estimated to result in generating $145 million. Twitter, which has been around for five years is competing with companies like Facebook Inc. for attention from marketers.

Mr. Dorsey, chairman of the board and its first chief executive stated that the percentage of people that interact or engage in ads that they see on Twitter is between 3 – 5%. And when compared to several other forms of online advertising, this figure much higher.