Twitter Applies '140' Rule to Video Seconds

Twitter on Tuesday launched enhanced video services that will allow users to post longer videos -- up to 140 seconds. It also announced a new platform for celebrities and public figures to share their stories.

Because sports, news, music and other videos increasingly are the type of content that goes viral on Twitter, the company decided to expand content parameters, noted Jeremy Rishel, head of product development for creators.

"Video is becoming increasingly central to the real-time conversations happening on Twitter video. Tweets on Twitter have increased by over 50 percent since the beginning of 2015," he pointed out.

The new 140-second run time is a dramatic increase over the previous 30-second limit.

Now, everyone can post videos up to 140 seconds long! We can't wait to see the amazing videos you create and share. https://t.co/DFsuvnXkuL

— Twitter Video (@video) June 21, 2016

Select publishers will continue to be able to post videos of up to 10 minutes in length using Twitter's professional publisher tools, according to Rishel.

Beyond the Trailer

Longer videos will be permitted on Twitter-owned Vine as well. Small groups of creators soon will be able to add a video of up to 140 seconds to their Vine, which will turn the 6-second Vine into a trailer for a larger story.

Vine will add a Watch More button to the lower right corner of Vines. The longer-form video creation is in beta, and the company already has been working with a group of creators to gain feedback on the experiment.

Vine is exploring monetization opportunities with creators, using Twitter's Amplify Open program. It also is working closely with Niche, which is open to any creator.

"In 2016, no social network can thrive without video, which has become central to both how digital users interact with online content and also how super users and brands communicate optimally with their online audiences," said Tim Mulligan, senior analyst at Midia Research.

Stretching the Boundaries

Twitter is trying to expand beyond its traditional market to compete with social media sites like Instagram, which has more flexibility, noted Jim Mcgregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

That strategy could pose an issue for Facebook in the long term, he told TechNewsWorld.

"The real question is, what does Twitter want to be when it grows up?" McGregor mused. "Does it want to be loyal to its faithful followers, or become an all-in-one solution that eventually moves beyond its current limits -- which it continues to test?"

Users will be able to share video on Twitter in three different ways. They can record, edit and share video using apps: Twitter for iPhone, or Twitter for Android OS 4.1 and higher. They can import video on an iPhone or iPad that has the Twitter app installed. Finally, they can upload videos to the twitter.com website.

New Celebrity Access

The new Twitter Engage app is a way for celebrities and other public figures to enlarge their audiences. The app surfaces the most important follows and @mentions from influencers and loyal fans.

Twitter Engage also provides Twitter stats, including likes, retweets, @mentions and video views, and it filters the results by time periods. Users can get more detailed information, including real -time feeds of audience demographics, and can track all Twitter activity, including videos, GIFs and images.