Diane Alter

Twitter, the site which lets people send and receive messages called "tweets" in up to 140 characters, unveiled a new design Thursday aimed at widening its appeal.

The company said that when people first sign up to use the service, Twitter will help them discover information that might interest them based on their location and other signals.

The move is the company's biggest since Jack Dorsey, Twitter's creator, returned to take over the daily operation at the site in March to oversee Twitter's look.

The redesign hopes to make Twitter more accessible to new users.

The five year old company said the new look will roll out globally over the next few weeks, and will add a section to every Twitter user's account called "Stories," that shows them content on Twitter they may find interesting.

What many people find most interesting is hints of an initial public offering. So far no filing or date for an IPO has been made.