Twitter Keeps Adding Features to Prove It Isn't Completely Dysfunctional

Twitter Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo and his lieutenants stood in front of a roomful of Wall Street analysts in November as they rattled off a list of promises designed to prove they're capable of broadening the site's appeal to nonusers. The crowd that endured the seven-hour presentation had little reason to expect changes soon. Twitter had just switched to its fifth product chief in as many years, and the introduction of new features had stagnated amid the turbulence.

When Costolo next addresses Wall Street for the company's earnings report on Thursday, he'll be able to say that he did what he promised. Twitter, instead of defending itself in the face of constant rumors about its fate, is using a show-not-tell approach to drum up investor confidence, and bring out overdue updates to the social network, many of which had been held up for years amid internal bickering.