In yet another move to boost its multimedia content, Twitter announced today that it had acquired video clipping service SnappyTV.
The SnappyTV platform can be used to cut, edit and post short video clips, optimized for social network distribution. This works particularly well for sporting moments, TV shows and world news and SnappyTV is already being used by networks such as The CW, Univision, Fox Sports and ABC News to promote their content. Now Twitter wants to extend that capability to its other media partners and enhance its positioning as THE social TV network.
In a blog post about the acquisition, Twitter’s director of product management Baljeet Singh said:
Twitter users have watched goals, slam-dunks, amazing shots, and touchdowns –– as well as red-carpet moments, award show performances, news clipsand funny moments –– right from a Tweet in their timeline.
While we continue to invest in SnappyTV’s product and integrate it more tightly with Twitter, we also plan to maintain our partners’ ability to post high-quality videos to other platforms. Our goal is to help publishers quickly share great moments from events so people can experience those moments as they happen.
Couple that with Twitter’s announcement about introducing GIFs to its platform, and suddenly we’re about to see our Twitter streams blow up with tons of multimedia content. With Vines, images, GIFs and now short videos, Twitter simply isn’t the place for pure text anymore. As Dick Costolo and co. work towards gaining an audience outside the media elite, they’re going to focus even more on the visuals, a far easier way to engage the casual user.
