Twitter Reportedly Torn on Autoplay Videos

Whether you’re a marketing-minded person who thinks that Twitter is a perfect place for autoplay video ads or a user who absolutely hates the sound of that – you have people inside the company that agree with you. In fact, the decision-makers at Twitter are split on whether or not to take the next step […]
Twitter Reportedly Torn on Autoplay Videos
Written by Josh Wolford

Whether you’re a marketing-minded person who thinks that Twitter is a perfect place for autoplay video ads or a user who absolutely hates the sound of that – you have people inside the company that agree with you.

In fact, the decision-makers at Twitter are split on whether or not to take the next step in video and autoplay them inside users’ streams.

The report comes from Adweek, which quotes sources familiar with the matter.

Twitter is divided over whether to allow videos to simply start playing when users scroll over them. It is a feature already adopted by Facebook, but one that scares Twitter purists who don’t want it to stray farther from its text-based roots, according to industry insiders with knowledge of the company’s video strategy.

“It’s an argument that’s happening—a tug of war,” said one.

Twitter remains cautious, even though video has become an important tool for the service as consumers and brands have embraced it.

Twitter has been increasing its focus on video for some time now – especially when it comes to how video can help propel, or even carry, the company’s ad offerings. But autoplay videos inside the Twitter feed? That’s a big step, for sure.

But it’s one that rival Facebook has already taken.

Facebook began the wider rollout of its video ad product earlier this year, and by many accounts it’s been a pretty big success. Videos are seeing over a billion watches a day, a number which is surely lifted by the fact that many are autoplay. Time reports that Facebook is making a big push this holiday season, adding more corporate partners to the mix.

Twitter has a decision to make, and it must balance the potential for growth in it advertising sector with UX. If Twitter starts to autoplay videos, many users will get pretty pissed. It sure happened to Facebook.

But like most things that users hate on social networks, they get used to it after a while.

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