Twitter: Evolve or Die
Vanessa Suarez | @VanessaSuarez__
In the words of the very famous scientist, Charles Darwin:
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."
When you have to adapt to survive, there isn’t a social media platform more up for the challenge than Twitter. With revenue at an unsteady pace for some time now, Twitter is making some changes to engage users and challenge Facebook’s ever-popular live video.
Source: Twitter/Business Insider
In December, Twitter added the ability to broadcast live straight from its main app, after downloads of its dedicated live-streaming app Periscope fell off. Now in Q1, the platform has streamed more than 800 hours of live content in, reaching 45 million viewers. This brings Twitter to its next step in live video evolution. Twitter is known for it’s “hear it here first” approach and now it’s really bringing everything users need to know straight to their app.
It’s teamed up with 12 news, sports and entertainment media outlets: among them are BuzzFeed, Vox Media, MLB Advanced Media, The Cheddar, The Players Tribune, PGA Tour - including a 24-hour news stream with Bloomberg.
What can the social push for live video mean for business?
According to a report by Business Insider, 88% of agency respondents stated that they “might” or “definitely will” invest in live stream video advertising over the next six months. This push into round-the-clock live video will allow brands to leverage streaming methods to connect with their viewers: tutorials, product launches, and exclusive and behind-the-scene footage.
As for Twitter?
In an interview with Beet.TV, CMO Leslie Berland had this to say:
“Twitter is live, we’re open and the entire world is watching,” says Berland. “When we bring video and real time events and live experiences together and marry that with the conversations on Twitter, it is above and beyond.”
Nevertheless our team at Social Media Delivered is inspired to see Twitter’s adaptability to the ever-changing world of social media. Could Twitter’s big move into television-like live video be next step of social media evolution?
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