Twitter owner Elon Musk is experimenting with new video products while trying to best competitors that are luring the social media platform’s users away before major changes occur.
Mr. Musk has floated bringing back short-form video app Vine that Twitter shuttered, discussed providing paying users the ability to post long videos, and is reportedly working on a paid-video feature that charges people to watch content.
Twitter’s renewed attention to video comes straight from the top. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has polled his audience on Twitter about whether to relaunch Vine and asked how to “make it better than TikTok.”
In defending making people pay to hold the blue badge signaling verification of authenticity and authority on Twitter, Mr. Musk has said customers would also get a new capability to post longer videos. He is also reportedly working on ways to charge people to watch videos with Twitter taking a cut of the proceeds.
While making people pay may look like a gamble for the billionaire aiming to grow Twitter’s bottom line, Mr. Musk is betting Twitter will continue to attract people.
“Twitter is simply the most interesting place on the Internet,” Mr. Musk said via Twitter on Wednesday. “That’s why you’re reading this tweet right now.”
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TikTok and other video-centric platforms are not the only ones that may concern Mr. Musk. Online publishing platform Substack is actively recruiting Twitter’s audience and looking to position itself as a text-heavy alternative for users disaffected by Mr. Musk’s leadership.
Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie wrote on Wednesday that people publishing on Twitter are doing labor for the company and are the product, not the customer.
“We should all be uncomfortable with the idea that a singular figure can hold dictatorial influence over a social platform that ultimately derives its power from the collective contributions of its participants, who don’t get to share in its riches,” Mr. McKenzie wrote on Substack.
Mr. McKenzie said that his platform’s users are allowed to take their mailing list, payment relationships and content off of Substack with a few clicks, which he said distinguishes his publishing platform from those getting locked in on Twitter.
“We don’t think Twitter is going to disappear anytime soon, nor should it,” Mr. McKenzie wrote. “It has its uses, and even cage fights can be fun. But it’s time for a real alternative.”
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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