After months of speculation, Twitter’s video upload functionality is finally here. How does it work, what can you do and what impact will it have?
Video in 2015
2015 is already being hailed as the year of video advertising. With Facebook making huge strides to take on YouTube and the exponential growth of online video, Twitter needed to upgrade its offerings or fall behind. Although Twitter already has the popular Vine service, the continued growth of Instagram and Snapchat, plus the popularity of longer videos proved the demand for video content of more than just the six second videos Vine offers users.
Many industry insiders and publications have speculated for quite a while that Twitter video was on the way, and Tuesday’s announcement confirmed that Twitter is taking its first big steps to grab a share of the online video market.
Mobile First
The Twitter video upload functionality is, for now at least, a mobile-first feature, with uploads of video up to 30 seconds long coming directly from videos taken using the Twitter iPhone and Android apps. Right now, iPhone users can also upload videos directly from their camera roll, with this feature expected shortly for Android devices.
The mobile emphasis seems aimed at promoting Twitter video as a social feature. For many Twitter is a valuable news source and the ability to add videos straight into tweets could have a huge impact on how developing news stories and current events are reported through the service. Expect to see more clips of sporting events, concerts, political rallies, tech conferences and other popular events that generate big interest online.
Impact on Business
Although this feature seems targeted primarily at social users, an impact on businesses using Twitter is a given. Aside from the obvious impact we’ll see for news services, major brands will undoubtedly start using these videos to promote products and events to their followers in exciting new ways. One of the first video tweets was a clever promotion for the upcoming Oscars ceremony:
Check out my Twitter video #Oscar exclusive! I gots me a scoop! pic.twitter.com/SGQ3oJHDqZ
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) January 27, 2015
Expect much innovation and some clever new video campaigns from different companies in the coming months.
Many other aspects of business will see new challenges and opportunities with video uploads as well. Twitter is a key source of customer support online for a great number of businesses – the ability to share feedback via videos and for brands to respond and interact with them will become important in these relationships.
Anything Else?
Yes – In addition to the big video news, Twitter have also announced an expansion to their DM (direct message) service, allowing for more private communications as users can now direct message up to 20 people. A long overdue update, it’s all aimed at keeping activity within Twitter, so users don’t go and have their private conversations about Twitter content elsewhere.
As big fans of video, we at Viddyad are super excited about these updates and we can’t wait to see how the Twitter experience changes, and how rival networks respond as video content continues to dominate the web.
