Twitter’s recently launched “Explore” section will now feature live video from Periscope in its “Top Trends”, the company announcement yesterday. The move will further integrate Twitter’s standalone live-streaming app into its core platform, leaving even less reason to keep a separate app dedicated to live video.
The company has been criticized for being slow to integrate Periscope’s live streaming capabilities into its own app following its acquisition of the promising live streaming tool in early 2015. Instead of leveraging the Periscope’s technology to immediately create its own live-streaming platform within Twitter, the company instead attempted to operate Periscope as a separate entity – the same way Facebook treated Instagram.
But unlike Instagram, Periscope was acquired pre-launch, so it didn’t have an existing community to build on. It has also faced intense competition from other tech giants, including Facebook and YouTube, as well as startup Meerkat (which has since exited the live streaming race).
Over the past few months, however, Twitter has corrected its course when it comes to how it treats Periscope. In December, it launched the ability to livestream directly to Twitter itself, without having to open the Periscope app. Streams launched on Twitter would also be viewable in Periscope, but the second app was no longer a requirement.
Additionally, Twitter’s mobile redesign – which saw it replace the ‘Moments’ section with a larger ‘Explore’ area for searching and discovering trends, Moments, videos and more – has also put more emphasis on live video. Of course, that includes the live streams that Twitter now hosts through its many media deals, like those with the NFL and other sports organizations, Dick Clark Productions for various red carpet events, media for coverage of political and business news, and more.
Now, it will leverage Periscope to promote individual users’ live streams as well.
These feeds can be found in Explore’s “Top Trends” section, where you can browse the top hashtags and keyword searches currently exploding on Twitter’s network. When live videos are happening in one of these trending sections, they will be marked with a bright red “LIVE” tag for easy spotting.
When watching the video, you’ll have the same experience as in Periscope – with the ability to like and comment on video content, as well as retweet.
Whether live video is available or not apparently won’t influence trending selection. At the time of writing, none of the major trends offer live video. However, in case of breaking news, it will be easier to “connect” to live content on Twitter, thanks to this new feature.
