Twitter is testing TikTok-style reaction videos
It’s only been a few months since Twitter but the company is already experimenting with a new video format. The company is testing a new “Tweet Take” feature that allows users to share reaction videos alongside a Quote Tweet.
With the test, Twitter users can opt to send a “Quote Tweet with reaction” instead of the typical retweet or Quote Tweet. These “Tweet Takes” as the company is calling them can be either a photo or a video, and the original tweet will be embedded as a card overtop.
The concept is similar to a feature in Twitter’s short-lived Fleets feature, which enabled users to share tweets with their own commentary in a full-screen format. Fleets, of course, never really gained traction and the company pulled the feature less than a month after its launch.
Unlike Fleets, these reaction videos will appear in the main timeline just like any other tweet, though the videos will look noticeably different than the typical retweet. (While users can record a reaction in full-screen, it’s not clear what format they appear in the timeline. We’ve reached out to Twitter for more info.)
But these “takes” are perhaps even more similar to TikTok-style reaction videos, which often feature a comment or another users’ clip as the source. While Twitter hasn’t necessarily encouraged these types of interaction in the past, the company has been taking steps to build more creator-friendly features so it’s not necessarily surprising to see this kind of experiment.
Of course, just as Twitter users raised concerns about whether Fleets could be used to target people for harassment, tailored reaction videos also feels like the kind of feature that could be ripe for abuse. Quote Tweets are already a major source of dunking and bullying — which Twitter has at times tried — so it’s not difficult to imagine that these “Tweet Takes” could also become problematic. It’s also not clear just how big the initial experiment will be — Twitter often previews new ideas and features in early stages, but not all make it past the testing phase.
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