With the latest update, Twitvid has unfurled a completely new social video network that will allow anyone to become a powerful video programmer, by curating links from YouTube, Vimeo or Twitvid. Twitvid’s new, simple and streamlined interface and editorial tools are poised to allow web video watchers across every niche to become powerful, real-time programmers of web video, as well as users can now follow topics, people, or brands that interest them and see a personal feed of video.
With TwitVid claiming a whopping 12 million monthly unique visitors across the globe since the service was introduced in 2009, including celebrities, and as a spokesperson put it, “has social at their core not search like YouTube.” This is significant, when you consider that YouTube’s recent changes make the service more like a traditional social network, with the subscription and news feed format.
It is basically like a video version of Twitter. Follow the channels you like, and see them in your timeline. That is mainly what the name implies, but the company says it is looking to magnify beyond its original model. It wants to be looked upon as a social video network built on an open network.
This “open YouTube” will eventually empower users to post video from anywhere on the web. You can also make it an open channel where anyone can share links, only you can share links, or the coolest part, where you can assign a team of editors that are allowed to contribute. Each user now has a stream that can be followed by other users.
Interestingly, some amazing characteristic that differentiates the new video platform from Twitter and YouTube is that users can produce subject-specific “subchannels” within their account that can also be followed. They can also limit posting privileges for these channels to just themselves, a small group or anybody. Videos play within streams without opening on another page, and comments appear directly below videos within a stream like they do on Facebook.
The “post from anybody” alternative could be especially handy for brands and celebrities who wish to aggregate videos from a specific event like a rally or a concert. Twitvid already has media celebrities on its services, including Justin Bieber, Al Gore, John McCain, Tyra Banks and LeBron James.
“We want this to be a place where you can talk and watch at the same time,” Twitvid CEO Mo Adham says, while displaying a comment section that looks suspiciously designed to one day accommodate real-time chat.
While getting an exclusive look at the new Twitvid, Adham explained the need for their new network. “Your Twitter feed gets lost among pics and news. Engagement is low on video. You put it on your Facebook feed and everyone’s busy checking out their friends,” he stated. “The purpose of this network is about discovering video. When you get followers, when you share a video, you will get viewership and engagement on the video and people talking and watching the next episode.”
The refurbishment is in fact more of a threat to numerous social media web video platforms such as Shelby.TV and VHX than it is to YouTube. But unlike both of these social video players, it is taking a risk by asking users to deliberately add content to its platform. It would not be scraping social feeds for video playlists any time soon.
“You follow a different set of people here than you would on Facebook and Twitter,” Adham says. While speaking of Facebook, that is a big part of what sets TwitVid apart from YouTube. What YouTube is doing is more about Google+, Adham noted. So far, I do not think they present any threat, because we are directly associated with Twitter and Facebook.
Adham also noted that TwitVid is also looking into its TV scheme. “The TV is going to be super important for us,” he said. Whether that means Xbox, Google TV, Roku, Samsung, etc. he says they’ll be exploring opportunities.
He further asserted that TwitVid in no way hope of challenging YouTube, which by all measures still leaves other online video sites in its dust in terms of market share. It is not trying to become another website focused on its own uploaded videos. Instead, it wants to be the place where all of the videos from those services can live together in a social setting.
Below is a separate interview conducted by the popular technology news website WebProNews with Adham about the news:
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