Twitter is making Moments available to thousands of brands and influencers, and eventually plans to open the service to all Twitter users in the coming months.

Hong Kong, China - July 23, 2011: Macro image of clicking the Twitter icon on an iPad screen

Moments is a curated section of Twitter that offers users a “greatest hits” of the social network’s chosen topic. Until now, it was run by Twitter’s editorial team and several partners, including the MLB, NASA, and BuzzFeed.

Twitter hopes that by opening Moments up to more brands (and eventually the general public) it will be able to get more users and advertisers involved on the site. By diversifying the content available on the feature, the social network hopes to foster a more intimate and personal experience with its users. Twitter hopes that this move will make Moments as successful as Facebook Trending Topics in terms of news aggregation.

Opening Moments to the wider world is also yet another instance of Twitter trying to keep up with Snapchat. Snapchat’s do-it-yourself approach to video sharing seems to be altering the way we consume social media, as just last week, Facebook’s Instagram released a “Stories” feature that is a direct parody of Snapchat. The new Moments could develop into something similar, with people creating curated “stories” on the feature.

Twitter hopes Moments will draw in reluctant advertisers, but it remains to be seen if it can pull this off.