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Twitter Starts Testing View Counts to Surface the Best Videos

Twitter Starts Testing View Counts to Surface the Best Videos

By Shekhar Thakran | Updated: 1 February 2017 18:54 IST

Highlights

The view count is visible right next to the usual timer on videos
View count could possibly be used to rank content going ahead
Twitter spokesperson has confirmed that test is being conducted

Twitter has reportedly started showing view count on videos for some users as the social network continues to experiment with video related features on its platform. Much like other social media platforms, Twitter has also been trying to figure out video features that are desired by its users so that it can stay relevant.

The view count on videos, which was first spotted by BuzzFeed's Dorsey Shaw, is now showing up for some people right next to the usual timer, as pointed out in a report by Mashable.

Photo Credit: Twitter/@dorseyshaw

"As video consumption continues to increase on Twitter, we are constantly experimenting with ways to provide a rich video experience," a Twitter spokesperson told Mashable via email. "View counts provide helpful context on the popularity of a video, and we are exploring this feature to help surface the best content," the spokesperson said.

With this test, it appears like Twitter will soon be ranking content on the basis of their popularity, possibly for its Explore tab, which was added with the aim to make it easier to find interesting content.

The spokesperson has also clarified that within this test the views will be counted as "[Media Rating Council]". This essentially means that the view will be counted by industry standard of "2 seconds consecutively in view at 50 percent visibility," Mashable said citing the spokesperson in its report.

It remains to be seen when this new feature will eventually be rolled out to everyone. Twitter recently started looping all videos posted on its website with duration less than 6.5 seconds after the conversion of Vine into a pared-down camera app.

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