Twitter has now become one of the latest Internet giants to establish its own native video player. Following in the footsteps of YouTube and Facebook, the microblogging behemoth allows verified Twitter users to upload and share videos that are under 10 minutes. It is unclear when the video service will be rolled out to the entire Twitter community.
In November, Twitter announced that it would launch a video player of its own sometime in the first half of 2015. Many tech experts didn’t expect the social media outlet to unveil it so soon.
At the present time, only authorized Twitter users can utilize the new video service. It is available at video.twitter.com and through Twitter mobile applications for the Android and iOS.
Here are some of the important details to understand about the video player, according to Twitter itself:
Twitter will not allow its users to share a YouTube link of the same content uploaded to Twitter. Uploaders can insert a title and a brief description, but its dashboard does not support any editing – all editing duties must be performed prior to uploading.
Videos are tweetable from the dashboard, they can be deleted anytime, even if they have already been tweeted. Scheduling video is not available at the moment.
The Twitter Video Player may be looking to feature high-quality videos. Twitter Video will support MP4 and .mov formats, and videos should use a 16:9 aspect ratio. A Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch there is currently no video size limit and users should use the highest bitrate possible.
“At this time we do not have a file size limit when uploading. As such, we are encouraging partners to use the highest resolution source video, to create the most optimal user experience. However, keep in mind that the larger the source file, the longer it will take to upload and process,” Twitter told the news outlet. “At least 5000k bits, and the audio bitrate should be 128k. Frames per second should be preserved as per the original source material.”
Furthermore, video uploaders will be provided with statistics compiled and generated by Twitter, such as video starts, overall views and quartile completion rates
The Twitter Video rollout pits the company against Facebook and YouTube, but also against mobile-friendly services such as Snapchat and Vine.
Kevn Weil, VP of Product, wrote in the November blog post about the native video product:
“Aside from just watching video more easily on Twitter, you should be able to record, edit and share your own videos natively on Twitter too,” stated Weil late last year. “Alongside short looping Vine videos, we think you’ll have fun sharing what’s happening in your world through native video.”
It is quite likely that the Twitter Video Player will be used by digital advertisers and other commercial marketers in the future, but the social network is prohibiting third parties from selling access to the video player or to add promotions, advertisements and sponsorships. It did say that only Amplify members can take part in advertising efforts.
Business analysts are already saying that Twitter will attempt to incorporate a business model that is somewhat similar to YouTube. This may very well mean that the social network will launch premium content channels, showcase quality content and establish partnerships with content creators moving forward.
The  latest move by Twitter is meant to generate additional revenues and take away some video ad dollars from the largest video website in the world today.
Do you think it will succeed?
