Twitter has announced that it will roll out two updates that integrate video detection with a new video carousel and improve the user experience for watching videos in full screen.
Users immediately noticed that it was similar to TikTok’s approach to discovering and watching videos.
The response was both positive and skeptical.
Discover Twitter
Both changes will be available in the Twitter Explore feature, with both features now available on Apple’s iOS.
Explore is a Twitter feed that contains an organized stream of tweets that are selected according to a user’s interests.
It’s available on the Twitter app and mobile site with a magnifying glass icon where tabs reveal popular topic categories like For You, Trending and News.
New video library
Twitter will start adding a new video carousel in which the user can select popular videos to watch, including teaser videos.
Twitter Announce in a tweet:
Now on iOS, videos on your timeline will open in the immersive, full-screen video player, where you can swipe up to continue discovering more content.
Twitter described how the new feature will make it easier to keep discovering more videos.
Some of you on iOS and Android will also see recommended content in a new video circle on the Explore For You page.
Do you want to go back to scrolling? Click the back arrow in the upper left corner to exit the player to go back to where you left off.
Immersive video player
The second change is the Twitter video playback update.
Now all it takes to expand a video when using the app is a tap to enjoy a video in full screen mode.
The update also adds functionality that makes it easier to keep watching more videos.
according to Official Twitter blog announcement:
“By playing the video in full screen mode, we’ve also made video discovery easier.
Just scroll up to start browsing more engaging video content.
If you want to exit the viewer and go back to the original tweet, click the back arrow in the upper left corner.
The user’s response to the Twitter ad
The new video feed was instantly and understandably compared to TikTok by Twitter users.
Tiktok on Twitter
– ⚡️ Wumpus ⚡️ (notwumpus) October 5, 2022
Ah yes. Tik Tok.
– Abdul (Advil) October 5, 2022
Anecdotally, responses to the ad seem to be evenly divided between users who appreciated being able to spend time on videos and those who didn’t like it because it felt like Twitter was turning into Twitter.
I only saw this when I uploaded the vid. Very cool 🙏
– YouTube (Youtubable) October 5, 2022
Unfortunately, Twitter sells itself to other “fashionable” social networks and loses all its authenticity. It used to be my favorite social network, precisely because it differs from others, and now it’s more of the same.
– Kassio Frazao (@kassiofrazao) October 5, 2022
Twitter videos
Videos have always been a part of the Twitter experience.
But Twitter’s lack of video discovery and enjoyment has made video discovery secondary to the textual experience of reading tweets.
The lack of video detection seemed to be an oversight because videos were available but difficult to discover as a separate form of content media, other than stumbling upon interesting media by random chance.
While comparisons to TikTok seem inevitable, it’s somewhat inevitable that videos on Twitter will become easier to discover and watch.
Featured image by Shutterstock / Dean Drobot
