Twitter And Vine Are Ramping Up Their Video Feature To Join The Elites

The smarter our smartphone gets, the more we can do with it. As for the usual, Facebook, YouTube and some others are just getting more and more attentions out there. Twitter that has been dragging its feet for a while now, wants to join those elites, and this time is by doing some changes to its video contents.

Videos are somehow populating the web faster than most people ever think of. When YouTube once ruled the video-sphere, many other competitors were trying to replicate the streaming service in their own ways.

Facebook for example, has launched its video feature to slowly eat away YouTube's market share. Now Twitter is doing some changes to include that similar area into its app dedicated to video and recommended video, and to also do a few notable changes to its Vine.

The feature is rolling out initially to only selected users. The video on Twitter's timeline will be clickable, to launch Watch Mode as Twitter calls it. It is a video-only section of the app where Twitter can suggest other videos users may want to watch.

Like previously said, the feature is somehow similar to Facebook's.

With a tap or a click, users can select the next thumbnail under the video they're currently watching to start playing it, or swipe or scroll through to check out more suggestions. This feature also works with Vine videos.

Facebook has put this feature into a good use, and has allowed advertisements to flow into the stream. This allows video creators to share revenue for the ads, just like YouTube. But on Twitter's Watch Mode, the company said that it isn't showing any ads at least initially.

Twitter and Vine are both fast-moving and more of a real-time social media if compared to both YouTube and Facebook. To take advantage of this, both can't just copy what their competitors are doing. In their fast moving timeline, time matters. And for that, they still in needs to stick to limit, but increasing it for better engagements.

Twitter and Vine have distinct characteristics regarding their videos that differentiate them from the market. But things should change on both platforms as video contents are getting more and more popular.

Twitter is changing its video limit to 140 seconds, up from the 30-second limit it has now, and selected publisher partners working with Twitter are able to post 10 minute long videos by using a special set of professional publishing tools.

As for Vine, things get a bit more complicated. Vine videos are only limited to six seconds, but now the company is lifting the restriction so users can post additional videos - up to 140 seconds long - alongside their Vine. But the thing is, users are still able to create that six-seconds endless looping Vines, but can also be a standalone to be 140 seconds.

Longer videos on Vine will have a "Watch more" tag attached to it on the lower-right corner which viewers need to tap to view their full-length video. This functionality is rolling out in stages to all Vine users across the world.

And to put Vine videos into a good use, the company is now allowing a share of revenue with its users. With the change, influential Vine creators for example, can soon use Twitter's Amplify video ad program to run pre-roll ads along with their Vine videos.

Both Vine and Twitter keep 30 percent of the revenue. Video creators will get the remaining 70 percent share.

With video seems to be a focus, Twitter is also launching a new app called Engage. The app is specifically designed for video creators so they can track and analyze their videos and filters through their Twitter mentions.

What should this mean for Twitter? At first, the company is not a popular platform for video. As more people are creating videos with their mobile devices, video contents on Twitter can't match the likes of YouTube or Facebook. Twitter is low on people's list, and Vine is even lower.

Engage is aimed to entice video creators to post videos to Twitter instead of YouTube or Facebook, or at least in addition to them as many social media companies are now embracing video contents. With Engage, Twitter is also hoping to lure back some of its well-known Vine creators. Those people are those that have millions of followers, but have abandoned everything for other networks such as Instagram.

Beside the pressure from YouTube, Facebook and its Instagram, Twitter is also getting a relentless competition from Snapchat. The service has exceeded Twitter in daily active users.

But if all goes well, Twitter's willingness to change its core character that has become part of its identity could benefit the company. For example, Twitter has lifted its iconic 140-character limits to get people to tweet more, has being praised as a bold move and was very well accepted. Now it's tweaking its video restriction as well as Vine's, in hopes for good results.

But again, this could be a desperate measure done by the company as it needs to turn its product around to please both users and investors.

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