It’s been coming for some time, however Twitter has as we speak confirmed that Twitter Blue subscribers – all 650k of them – can now add movies as much as two hours lengthy within the app.
As per Twitter:
“Subscribers can add movies as much as 2 hours lengthy (1080p) on twitter.com and Twitter for iOS. Subscribers can add movies as much as 10 minutes lengthy on Android. When you aren’t a Twitter Blue subscriber, you possibly can nonetheless add movies as much as 140 seconds lengthy on any platform.”
So a fairly large discrepancy there – simply over 2 minutes of add capability without cost customers, however movie-length uploads for paying subscribers.
Which might be appropriately. Although, evidently, longer add capability hasn’t been a lot of an enticement for Twitter Blue subscribers simply but, provided that Twitter added hour-long uploads into the Twitter Blue providing again in December, and to date, solely about 0.3% of Twitter customers have signed as much as the $8 per thirty days package deal.
However then once more, while you additionally take into account that 80% of Twitter users don’t ever post anything to the app, Twitter solely must get a small proportion of energetic customers to pay up and begin posting longer clips for this to be of profit, a minimum of to a point.
With the appointment of NBCU exec Linda Yaccarino as the brand new CEO of the corporate, Twitter additionally appears to be seeking to make video content material an even bigger focus, with Tucker Carlson’s new Twitter present probably simply the primary in a brand new collection of unique video content material additions.
Twitter chief Elon Musk has lengthy talked about Twitter competing with YouTube for video talent, and perhaps, utilizing Yaccarino’s expertise in constructing a subscription TV service (Peacock), the corporate will now look to really enact this, and push video content material to the forefront within the app.
Which received’t be straightforward, and the motivation actually isn’t there as but to get creators posting unique content material to the app. But when Twitter can set up a brand new income share program – one other aspect that Musk has talked about – then there might be a extra viable path ahead in bringing extra viewers to the app, and constructing advert alternatives.
Although viewers attain isn’t the factor that’s maintaining advertisers away from Twitter proper now. Twitter has misplaced round 50% of its top advertisers since Musk took over, resulting from issues along with his strategy to ‘free speech’, and the content material, and customers, that he’s permitting to stay energetic within the app.
Advertisers don’t need their promotions showing alongside offensive materials, whereas Twitter can also be permitting advertisements to be topic to Group Notes, the place customers can refute the claims made in them – which Musk additionally says has lost Twitter some of its big spenders.
With these latest developments at Twitter in thoughts, it could not matter if it could possibly construct its video viewers – however then once more, basically, when you have giant sufficient attain, advertisers will observe, whatever the perceived dangers.
Yaccarino additionally has much more expertise than Musk on the video entrance, and he or she may look to shift Twitter in that path, which is probably going one other key aspect of her appointment.
No matter comes subsequent, it appears clear that video will play an even bigger position, and longer uploads are one other piece of that puzzle, which may assist to shift person behaviors.
