Twitter is about to get a lot more video friendly

Facebook’s push into autoplay video has arguably been a pretty big success, andTwitter may be getting ready to do something similar. The company just started experimenting with the new feature in its iOS app, AdAge reports.


Twitter is putting its own twist on auto-play ads with a new A/B test running on iPhones and iPads. Some people will see the full video play automatically, while others will simply see a six-second looped teaser instead. Both versions will be muted, but clicking on it will launch full-screen view and turn on the audio.

The test is also limited to several types of video. For now, autoplay only applies to clips posted through the Twitter app and promoted video ads. Vine videos won’t be included. Neither will third-party services like YouTube.

Twitter’s latest move feels like a pretty clear effort to catch-up with Facebook. Whether the smaller site can match that success remains to be seen, but it may take more than simply following Zuckerberg’s lead.