Microblogging social network, Twitter, has become the latest platform to adopt a video display style, loosely resembling that of the popular short-form video-sharing app – TikTok.
With short-form video on the rise thanks to the global rise of TikTok, scores of popular social networks have copied notes from the popular platform, adapting the display of video content within them to closely mimic that of the platform’s winning formula – with the latest platform being Twitter.
The company recently announced that it was improving video functionality within its mobile app, with screen-shots released by Twitter, mirroring that of its Chinese-based rival.
In a statement, Twitter said that videos were a huge part of the public conversation taking place on the platform, videos shared on Twitter, receiving billions of combined views every year.
“Twitter’s updated immersive media viewer expands videos to full screen with a single click, allowing you to easily access the full, immersive viewing experience. To activate it, simply tap or click on a video in the Twitter app,” Twitter said.
Once the Twitter video has opened in full-screen mode, users can then scroll up to start browsing more content – much like TikTok’s swipe-up functionality.
Twitter isn’t just the only copy cat
Despite Twitter’s adoption of viewing video content in a TikTok fashion, the platform isn’t the first to borrow style cues from the platform, as more platforms identify TikTok as a threat.
Recently, IOL reported that Instagram enhanced its efforts to rival TiKTok with the launch of more features to complement Reels, the Meta-owned platform’s own short-form video-sharing feature in the app.
In addition to this, Instagram also expanded tools for Reel’s Remix function to help users collaborate more efficiently.
The platform also announced expanded Remix layouts which will allow users to choose between templates of a green screen, horizontal or vertical split-screen, or a picture-in-picture reaction view, among other features already offered within the TikTok app.
The introduction of TikTok undoubtedly spurred the popularity of short-form, portrait video content more so than any other platforms before it, like Vine and Tumblr.
In June this year, forecast and market analysis platform Insider Intelligence estimated the China-based video-sharing social network to have at least 655.9 million active users.
Given its launch in 2016, the platform has fared well in gaining popularity against its more mature rivals, such as the most popular social network – Facebook, which reportedly saw 2.9 billion users in April this year.
In contrast, Facebook was launched in 2004 and became the first platform of its kind to reach 1 billion users by 2012. In the same year, Facebook bought Instagram four years ahead of the launch of TikTok.
IOL Tech
