New and Digital Media Stories: Week 6

Article from The Guardian

The article expresses the increasing video footage that is shown on social networking sites as 'Twitter' and the fact that audiences are more prone to watch video on there as oppose to traditional platforms such as Television. 

Key Facts and Statistics:

•  Twitter has become a broadcaster itself: its 316 million active users currently watch 370 years worth of video every day on the service. That viewing is up 250% in the last six months alone, with 90% of it happening on mobile devices.
• “They like shorter clips – 30 to 45 seconds – and we also know that it should be something that people will want to share with each other,” says Fred Graver, creative lead for Twitter’s global TV team.
• Periscope’s role in that evolution looms large in the conversation. Twitter’s live-streaming video app launched earlier this year with 40 years worth of Periscope video now watched every day according to Biddle and was used by the famous Ant and Dec.
• “It’s very much a ‘now’ experience. And in the case of TV, it’s often those connecting moments that let you behind the scenes: like when Ant and Dec did it before the Britain’s Got Talent finals. ‘Oh, the music’s on. We’ll see you on TV!’. That last line had that ‘this is a moment that we’ve had before we go to the mass moment of television.”- Graver. “It should be intimate: that palm-of-your-hand thing. It should be very immediate: ‘this is happening right now’. And they should also remember that it’s conversational,” he says.

In my opinion, I think that the cinematic experience of consuming video through the traditional platform of television, is personally more appealing than having to squint your eyes towards a minuscule iPhone 4 or 5 screen. However, for those with the iPhone 6, which is virtually the size of a mini television, the experience may be more accessible and leisurely. I think it is interesting that Twitter have incorporated their own video broadcaster as part of the application, as it will really enhance the speed of tweeting a video clip. Alongside, adding to their own brand identity which is becoming successful across all sub platforms - socialising and news access - videos, photos, polls etc. 

Article from The Telegraph

The article addresses Facebook's technical bug which allowed users to see how many people were viewing their profiles. However, this wasn't an intentional move from the conglomerate and rightly so, as it wasn't popular with the public who began to use 'Twitter' and tweet about their upset. 

Photos from the Twitter site included:

In my opinion, if I was a Facebook user, I would like to see how many people have viewed my posts or pictures as a sense of security ultimately and I would even be interested in seeing "who". Nevertheless, I can understand why some users may be uncomforted by this as it may stop them from posting status's as they won't even be viewed.