Videos on Twitter

As I’ve been working on my call to action video, I have been noticing and paying extra attention to videos embedded in tweets on Twitter. Videos on my timeline automatically play but the sound does not automatically start – both aspects of which are more conducive to the casual Twitter user. I also noted that because of this, the way some videos chose to include the script of the video at the bottom in the form of subtitles was useful. I incorporated many of these techniques into making my video and tried to evaluate the ways in which these strategies were useful.
Many of the videos on my Twitter timeline have been features of politicians or important figures speaking directly to the audience. The videos often utilize the floating head technique, which involves the person being taped from the same angle usually just including the top half of their body. Most of the videos that played for longer than 20 seconds changed up the angles of the floating head to maintain the interest of the audience.
The value in the videos in that they provide a different form of media for users to receive information. It is beneficial to see an important figure speaking directly and in a more candid manner because they are better able to connect with the audience. The videos often end with a solid colored shot with text written encouraging or instructing watchers with the next steps the person wants them to follow through with.
Twitter users also utilized shorter 1-2 second videos that acted more like moving pictures. These are interesting and catch the attention of users but don’t necessarily try to advertise a call to action. Both longer and shorter clips usually include hashtags that give the reader a sense of the subject matter the video is about.
I realized the importance of the hashtag in relevance of activism today when I saw a lot of advertising for an #ActivismIRL panel. Cosmopolitan and Harness were teaming up with Twitter to host a panel in which activists would discuss how to turn hashtags into meaningful activism. Though I follow a wide and diverse range of accounts pertaining to reproductive rights, women’s health care, politics in America and women’s activism, the vast advertisement of this panel on different accounts showed how different people are making use of the same type of strategies and tactics.