TWITTER HAS MAJOR plans for video and as it prepares to launch it later this year, an FAQ of the service has already been put up.
The FAQ, which was discovered by Daniel Raffel, provides details about native Twitter videos such as format, size and uploading policies.
For one, Twitter video supports ‘mp4′ and ‘mov’, the most common video formats, and has an aspect ratio of 16:9.
Interestingly, there is no file size limit – Twitter keeps Vine videos and GIFs (which are converted to mp4 for space reasons) low in size to ensure they load quickly when selected – but there is a length limit of ten minutes in place.
In a direct reference to YouTube, the FAQ encourages people to upload videos directly instead of using links, and only support Twitter cards. Only Amplify partners – like the NBA who are allowed to upload match highlights and other videos – are allowed include ads before their videos.
If you’re familiar with YouTube on mobile, then you will know how video will work on Twitter. Videos can be minimised when playing them, taking the appearance of a thumbnail while you’re in the app.
[image alt="Twitter video" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2015/01/twitter-video-630x479.jpg" width="630" height="479" caption="How%20Twitter's%20video%20service%20will%20look%20in%20app.%20Videos%20can%20be%20minimised%2C%20allowing%20users%20to%20explore%20the%20news%20feed." class="alignnone" /end]
The site already experimented with a video from the Michael Jackson album Xscape, which contained unreleased material from the artist. When they start watching the video, iOS users are able to minimise it and leave it playing while they explore their news feed.
http://twitter.com/michaeljackson/status/499737439754133504
Twitter’s video ambitions were revealed back in November, where it gave some details of its plans. At the time, its VP of Product, Kevin Weil, said “you should be able to record, edit and share your own videos natively on Twitter too. Alongside short looping Vine videos, we think you’ll have fun sharing what’s happening in your world through native video.”
When Twitter moves into this space, YouTube will have both it and Facebook to contend with as both try to muscle in on the lucrative video space. Both are hoping that video will become popular on the site, paving the way for ads and ultimately more revenue for themselves.
While the Ice Bucket Challenge helped Facebook’s video service gain traction – more than 17 million videos relating to it were shared on the site between June and September – and is looking to expand on that success, Twitter’s service is expected to launch in the first half of this year.
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