Twitter has become the darling of social media by keeping things simple, with 140-characters or less messages. Currently, only text and links to external sites are allowed in tweets, but could video messages soon be showing up in the public timeline?
And if so, what does that mean for third-party apps such as Twiddeo, Tweetube and 12seconds which already offer similar off-site services?
Tweeting It Simple
is growing in popularity and influence all the time. What started out as a small, niche social networking site is catching up with the likes of Facebook and MySpace.
Part of its appeal is the lack of anything complicated or messy clogging up the site. Twitter sticks to the 140-characters or less tweets while letting developers use the API to expand the service outwards.
API Goodness
This means that external sites such as Twitpic have built strong brands and businesses on the back of Twitter. The API has also enticed online video companies to try to integrate with Twitter.
The likes of Twiddeo and Tweetube offer users the chance to record and post a short video message on the site. A text link to the clip will then appear as a tweet on the user’s Twitter page.
Twitter Video Tweets?
today published an article claiming that Twitter was considering introducing the ability for users to post live video tweets. These wouldn’t be through a third party, rather they’d be short video clips embedded directly into people’s Twitter streams.
The newspaper claims Twitter was looking at the option in order to “help boost its prominence as a fashionable social-networking tool again.” Although I’m not convinced it really needs to do anything of the sort as it’s still growing at an astonishing rate.
Twitter Says No
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has already debunked the rumor, telling Mashable:
“Haven’t read the piece but no video hosting. 140 characters of text including spaces. You know the drill!”
A Good Decision
And it’s a good thing that it looks as though Twitter isn’t planning on doing this. Although part of me thinks it would be rather cool to have video clips sprinkled all over Twitter, it would effectively curtail the efforts of the developers who have worked hard to provide such apps through the API program.
And then there is 12seconds.tv, a site I covered at the start of the year. This does away with Twitter altogether and is a self-contained messaging site where anyone can post a 12 seconds or less long video clip.
Related Ad
Buy ‘Videoblogging For Dummies’ on Amazon
