Twitter Leans into Emerging Video Trends with New Video Showcase Elements

It’s not going ‘full TikTok’, but Twitter is looking to lean into emerging video consumption trends, with two new updates designed to improve the Twitter video experience – and ideally, get people spending more time in the app.

First off, Twitter’s adding a new option that will expand tweeted videos to full-screen mode with a single click.

“Once the video has been launched in full screen mode, we’ve made video discovery easier as well. Just scroll up to start browsing more engaging video content. If you want to exit the viewer and go back to the original Tweet, click the back arrow in the top left corner.”

Seems familiar, right? So now, you’ll be able to discover more video content, specifically, in the app by entering a vertical scrolling feed of clips, which will be sorted by Twitter’s algorithms, enabling it to showcase more of the best-performing videos in the app.In addition to this, Twitter’s also looking to put more emphasis on video content in Explore, with a new ‘For you’ video carousel display.

“With our new video carousel, you can now easily find more videos you like alongside Tweets and Trends that might interest you. Just open the Explore tab to discover some of the most popular videos being shared on Twitter.”

Note the description: ‘popular and trending’ videos. That, again, will enable Twitter to lean into the AI-recommended content approach of TikTok, which is how it keeps people in its app for hours on end.

Given the rise of short-form, full-screen video, it makes sense for social platforms to consider how they can align with evolving consumption trends, and adapt them for their own.

Its updated video presentation format is another effort to align with the TikTok-led shift. And while I wouldn’t predict this to be a big factor in boosting video consumption in the app, it is definitely worth noting that Twitter’s specifically looking to amplify video content, which could make it a bigger consideration in your content approach.