Twitter breaks out its own video platform

Joining the ranks of YouTube and Facebook, Twitter has become the latest internet giant to launch its own native video platform, allowing users to upload and share footage of under 10 minutes.

So far, the service supports MP4 and MOV video files with up to 10 minutes of footage. The video must be encoded in the 16:9 format with the H.264 video codec and the AAC audio codec. For the thumbnail that will appear in tweets, uploaders can choose a still from the video itself or a separate image (JPG or PNG).

The new Twitter service will not accept videos from other platforms, such as on YouTube, but rather will host original videos and display them in a native player. Users will not be able to edit videos, with the exception of a title and a short description.

Uploaders will have access to some video stats provided by Twitter, including information on the number of video starts and completion by quartile (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%). Previously uploaded videos can be deleted at any time, even after they have been tweeted.

For now, only certified Twitter users have access to the new tool, which is available at the website video.twitter.com and via the Twitter mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Prior to unveiling its new native video platform, Twitter's presence in the video sector has been limited to its subsidiary Vine, which allows users to create, upload and share short looped videos of under six seconds.