Twitter is just as obsessed with video as Facebook is. The micro-blogging site is now tweaking how it delivers those short motion picture clips to its users’ timelines. Dorsey Shaw from BuzzFeed recently found that some people are seeing video view counts in their feed now. The video views can be seen next to the usual timer, notes Mashable.
Ensuring rich video advertising
As video consumption on the platform continues to grow, Twitter is constantly experimenting with ways to provide a rich video experience, said a spokesperson, confirming the video testing to Mashable. In an email, the spokesperson added that the view counts provide helpful context on the popularity of a video.
“We are exploring this feature to help surface the best content,” the spokesperson said.
The experiment suggests that the social network may be looking at ways to display and rank popular content, potentially in its brand new “explore” section, notes Mashable. The company has been testing how it presents video as part of a significant push into the format, particularly live video.
Twitter secured streaming rights with the NFL and the 2016 Melbourne Cup horse race in Australia. The 2016 Melbourne Cup was Twitter’s first live stream partnership outside the United States.
However, it is not known what counts as a “video view.” In the past, the micro-blogging site has been said to measure a video view for advertisers as something watched for at least two or three seconds. But advertisers will want to know exactly what they are paying for, as has been proven by Facebook’s trouble with inflated metrics in 2016.
Twitter has a new plan to battle abuse
Along with the video, Twitter is also working to address a long-standing issue. The company has been censured for a long time for being a breeding ground for harassment and hate crimes, but it looks like the company might finally be implementing some changes to reduce the abuse.
Ed Ho, Twitter’s VP of engineering, hinted at some changes in a tweet on Monday night. The changes include new measures to prevent serial abusers from creating new accounts and “long overdue fixes to mute/block” features.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said they are approaching the issue with a “sense of urgency” and confirmed that users will be able to see those changes rolling out in the coming days. Some changes will be visible immediately, while others will be more targeted to specific scenarios.
