Twitter adds video, group messaging

Catching up with rival networks Facebook and Instagram, micro-blogging site Twitter has given users the ability to film, edit and share videos instantly within the native mobile app.

Users would now be able to send private messages to up to 20 of their Twitter followers at once, regardless of whether they all followed each other, which was only limited to sending a private message to one follower at a time.

Until now, video functionality on Twitter was only available to advertisers and public figures or "influencers", who could upload videos up to 10 minutes in length and gain "rich analytics", according to Twitter product director Jinen Kamdar.

Kamdar told Fairfax Media that had been really successful but now the company had a mobile offering for every user of Twitter. He added the company thought this a profound change.

Kamdar was keen to differentiate the new video function from Vine, a separate, six-second video looping app snapped up by Twitter in 2012.

He added he thought their use case and camera was distinct and different from Twitter's.

Meanwhile, www.fox10tv.com reported that now with a few taps one could add up to 30 seconds of video and if one had an iPhone one could upload from their camera.

According to analysts the move comes as insurance for Twitter investors about the company's potential to grow. The rollout got  underway yesterday, and should be in the hands of users hands in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, popular disappearing-message app Snapchat was introducing content from media companies -- as it worked at widening its audience.

The company said in a blog post yesterday that the "Discover" feature was a new way for users to explore content from different media outlets.

When users visited the Discover section, they could watch videos, read stories or see photos from the media companies, which also included the Food Network and Comedy Central.