X confirmed that the vertical video feed will be available for users in the US.
Twitter was rebranded as X after Elon Musk's takeover in 2023
Photo Credit: Reuters
X (formerly Twitter) has announced a new feature for its users. It has introduced a dedicated vertical video feed, similar to Instagram's Reels or YouTube's Shorts feeds. Another social media site, Bluesky, founded by Jack Dorsey, who was incidentally one of the founding members of Twitter, also revealed a similar vertical video feed feature. These announcements are speculated to be in response to TikTok's uncertain future in the US. Notably, Elon Musk-owned X recently confirmed that it will unveil X TV as well as X Money services in 2025.
In post on its platform, X announced that a new vertical video feed is now currently available for users in the US. The company claims it will be "an immersive new home for videos." The feed can be accessed through a play button at the bottom of the screen. The company did not confirm if this feature will be available to other users outside the US.
Bluesky, on the other hand, revealed that it is getting "in on the video action too," and that a customisable video feed is available for all users. Like other Bluesky feeds, users "can choose to pin these or not." The company clarified that the users will be able to swipe up to access a timeline of "only video posts." It is available to all users on the mobile app, the company said.
The series of dedicated vertical video feed integration among competing apps is speculated to be related to the disruption that the short-lived TikTok ban created in the US. The Bytedance-owned app stopped working for US users late on Saturday, but the ban was reversed the very next day.
The discussion surrounding the ban in the country went on for months. The uncertainty of the popular short-video-sharing app's future in the country led to a lot of users and competing developers scrambling for alternatives. According to a recent report, Perplexity AI, a US search engine startup, offered a bid to ByteDance on Saturday for the firm to merge with TikTok US.
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