Twitter to show you more video content in trends and on timelines

By Saqib Shah February 15, 2017

twitter usersnames character limit man holding iphone 6 with on the screen — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Twitter wants you to watch more videos. To help give user-generated clips and professional live-streams maximum exposure, the platform is surfacing video in more places.

First up, Twitter is making sure you see more live video courtesy of Periscope in relation to breaking news and events. Now, when you access its trending feed within its recently launched Explore tab, you may see a “live” icon next to certain results. Tap on the trend in question, and Twitter will show you live-streams alongside regular tweets.

Recommended Videos

Watch what's trending – LIVE! You'll now see Periscopes surfaced in top trends. pic.twitter.com/Bhj8JT2ITw

— Creators (@XCreators) February 14, 2017

Seeing as Periscope’s users often post live broadcasts of breaking events around the world, the clips make ideal visual accompaniments for trending news stories on Twitter. The likes of PBS and digital media company Cheddar are also increasingly using the app to air live coverage from the Senate floor, White House press briefings, and news conferences.

The change may be the handiwork of Periscope CEO Kayvon Beykpour, who was promoted to Twitter’s executive team last year, and is now reportedly handling product and engineering for live video on the platform.

As Twitter moves to further integrate Periscope with its flagship service (having already added the ability to go live from within its main app), who better to handle the video experience on the service than the Periscope co-founder? Let’s not forget that Periscope itself does a great job of curating breaking news and events streams into channels that users can tune into. Twitter also recently added 360 live video to Periscope, so be prepared to see more of those types of streams, too.

Another change that has been spotted on the Twitter app is a new “top videos for you” section. What seems to be an experiment, the new section displays relevant videos within the timeline in the vein of the platform’s “while you were away” feature for tweets, according to Mashable. The videos the test surfaces aren’t just limited to clips from accounts you follow, but can also include content Twitter thinks you may enjoy based on your activity.

With the platform witnessing an 11 percent increase in daily engagement during its fourth quarter, according to its own estimates, it’s no wonder Twitter is trying to show its highly active users more video. After all, the company has ramped up visual content through a number of multimillion-dollar deals with media broadcasters and sports leagues, including Bloomberg, the NFL, and NBA, among others.

Twitter recently revealed that it attracted 31 million unique viewers, who tuned in to more than 600 hours of live video across around 400 general events between September and December. Those numbers should encourage it to strike even more video partnerships, allowing it to add more visual content across its platform.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…

Social Media

What is Twitter Blue and is it worth it?

Twitter Blue menu option on a white screen background which is on a black background.

If you spend time on Twitter, you've probably heard the phrase "Twitter Blue" at some point and wondered what exactly it is. We're not talking about the signature shade of blue featured in its logo -- we're talking about the premium version of Twitter.

That's right. There's a paid tier for Twitter that many people don't even know exists that launched in July of 2021. And then relaunched again under Elon Musk's ownership in November 2022. Don't worry -- we'll explain everything below.
What is Twitter Blue?

Social Media

What is Mastodon? Here’s why everyone’s talking about this Twitter alternative

Series of four mobile screenshots showing Mastodon's sign-up process.

By now you've no doubt heard about Mastodon. It's a social media platform that's been bandied about as an alternative to Twitter, particularly among users who aren't comfortable with the direction Twitter is going in now that Elon Musk is at the helm.

In fact, since Musk first announced that he was planning on buying the popular microblogging platform, Mastodon has garnered quite a bit of attention and experienced significant growth. But though you've likely heard about Mastodon, you may not be familiar with how it works or haven't decided whether or not it would be a good fit for you if you ever choose to leave Twitter and need an alternative social media platform. Don't worry. We've got you covered. In this guide, we'll get you up to speed on everything you need to know about social media's buzziest new platform.
What is Mastodon?

Social Media

Twitter’s SMS two-factor authentication is having issues. Here’s how to switch methods

A person's hands holding a smartphone as they browse Twitter on it.

It might be a good idea to review and change your two-factor authentication options for Twitter. Elon Musk's Twitter has another issue for its users to worry about.

Twitter has reportedly been having issues with its SMS two-factor authentication feature (2FA). According to Wired, beginning as early as this past weekend, some Twitter users have reported difficulties logging in to their Twitter accounts due to the app's SMS 2FA feature not working properly. Essentially, the feature relies on the app sending users an authentication code via text message, which they can then enter as a second step in the login process.