Twitter recently announced a new feature that allows users to create short, looping videos up to two minutes long. This is the first time Twitter has allowed direct video posting, and it is a great step forward for the social media platform.
Previously, Twitter only allowed images to be posted, and if someone wanted to post a short video, they had to do so through a third-party app. This made posting videos difficult and cumbersome, which is not ideal for a social media platform.
The new video feature is called Viddler Rapport and allows users to add pre-recorded videos or recorded directly in the app. This gives more freedom as to what type of videos can be posted!
As with any new feature, there are bugs that need to be worked out. One of these bugs concerns the length of the videos being posted. Apparently, the two-minute limit was reached quickly, so the system now automatically cuts any video over two minutes in length down to two minutes.
Will Twitter actually change their video length limit?
Probably not. As of now, there’s no real reason for Twitter to make any changes to their current video length limit. The platform is not struggling to handle longer videos, and users do not seem to be complaining about the current limit.
However, we will see Twitter shorten the length of the video limit as more platforms adopt longer video lengths. It is likely that they will drop it down to one minute, as that seems to be the standard now.
It will be interesting to see how quickly they make this change, though. Will they wait until one second videos become the new norm or will they make the change before then? We will have to stay tuned and see!
Twitter has been pretty resistant to change in the past, so we may not see any changes until other platforms force them to make some adjustments.
Reasons why Twitter may change their video length limit
While many Twitter users may not mind the current video length limit, there are some good reasons Twitter may decide to change it.
For one, it would be in line with other major social media platforms. All of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have longer video limits than Twitter, which could cause confusion among users.
Another reason could be to encourage more users to post longer videos. With the new feature allowing up to ten minutes of video, there could be an increase in the length of videos posted by users.
Lastly, this update could help with user engagement and user growth. With the ability to post longer videos, people may be more inclined to post videos on Twitter instead of other apps due to the time limit being fulfilled.
Reasons why they may not change their video length limit
There are a few possible reasons why Twitter may decide to keep the 10-minute video length limit, despite so many people asking them to change it.
For one, it’s likely that they are gathering data on how people use the video length limit. By keeping it at 10 minutes, they can see how people use that much time to create the videos they want to make.
Another reason could be financial. By not allowing longer videos, they may sell more Twitter Ad campaigns due to the short duration of the videos being promoted. People may be more likely to click on a campaign for a short video than a long one due to their lack of interest in the longer ones.
Finally, they may not want to take the risk of having someone post a long video that goes viral which brings lots of attention to their platform. By keeping the limit at 10 minutes, they are preventing this from happening.
Lengthy videos are hard to watch on mobile
While longer videos can be nice for watching at home on a computer or laptop, they can be a problem on mobile.
Many people watch videos on mobile via Twitter, which currently limits videos to sixty seconds. That said, once the upgrade occurs, you will only be able to post videos up to eighty seconds long.
Since most smartphones do not have great processing power or much memory, it is hard to handle long videos. Plus, many users are paying for limited data per month, so downloading longer video files is not ideal.
The lower resolution of mobile phones also does not lend well to higher resolution video playback. Overall, making your video shorter for mobile is a good idea!
Research shows that the average length of a YouTube video viewed in full is three minutes and twenty-two seconds. So as far as making your video fit the average length viewers want to watch, three minutes and twenty-two seconds is a good number to shoot for.
The experience is not as good on a small screen
While mobile devices have improved dramatically in the last few years, there is still a gap between the experience on a mobile device and a desktop or laptop.
The main issue is screen size. While smartphones have HD screens, they are still smaller than most computer screens. Larger icons and pictures need to be shrunk down to fit the screen size, which reduces quality.
Since most apps and websites are not designed specifically for mobile, things like navigation and content re-ordering needs to be changed. This can sometimes ruin the experience of using the site or app.
As time goes on, this difference in experience will only grow as smart phones become more powerful. It is best to prepare now for the transition so that your site does not lose users due to poor mobile experience.
Mobile traffic has surpassed desktop traffic
While many people access Twitter via desktop, the largest percentage of users access Twitter on their phones. As a result, the mobile experience is a major focus for the team.
Due to screen size limitations on mobile devices, users can easily get through their entire timeline and then some in a short amount of time.
Because of this, the Twitter team tests sizes of tweets and timelines to ensure that users get a good experience. For example, they may try out showing fewer tweets in your feed or making them shorter so that you spend the same amount of time reading and reacting to them.
They also test how long it takes you to read a tweet on mobile and how to make that process easier by adjusting font sizes and positioning. These small changes can have a big impact on your phone battery life, so they test how long your phone lasts to help make the best setting for you.
These changes are made with the goal of providing you with the best mobile experience possible.
Videos that are too long can put viewers to sleep
While shorter videos can be effective, too short can feel rushed. It can also leave viewers wanting more. Too long can feel like a drag and cause people to lose interest.
The sweet spot is around two to three minutes. According to Twitter, the average viewing time for a Twitter video is two minutes and twenty seconds. That is what they based the new limit on!
Tweets with videos receive more engagement than those without, so keep posting those video clips! Just make sure they are under two and a half minutes so you do not lose any followers.
Interestingly, studies show that the average human attention span has dropped from twelve seconds in 2000 to eight seconds today. That is a significant drop in just over two decades!
Perhaps this is why the new Twitter video limits are at eight seconds shorter than the average human attention span? We will have to wait and see if that changes in 2022.
The longer the video, the lower the engagement rate
As mentioned before, Twitter has a strict character limit. This limit applies to video as well, making it difficult to post longer videos on Twitter.
Many users try to upload long videos to get more views, but this tactic does not seem to work. Longer videos result in lower engagement rates, most likely due to the difficulty of watching the video all the way through.
It is best to keep your video under two minutes so that people have a higher chance of actually watching the entire video. Even one minute long videos have low engagement, so make it even shorter to increase chances of views!
Using Teaser Videos is a good strategy as well since people will want to see the full video and will click onto your channel to watch it.
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