X Experiments with Improved Discovery for Video Live-Streams

As X looks to lean more into video content, as a method to drive more engagement, it also needs to enhance video discovery. That’s very true for live broadcasts, because while followers might see a tweet (sorry, post) letting them know that a user they follow is streaming, in the event that they miss that, there’s currently no alert or indicator to maintain them updated on in-progress streams.

Now X is seeking to correct this, by potentially using Spaces like alerts for live video streams as well.

As you may see in this instance, shared by X designer Andrea Conway, live video broadcasts may additionally soon be displayed at the highest of user timelines, like Spaces, helping to focus on in-progress broadcasts to more users.

Which shouldn’t be an enormous technical change, and should require some explaining (most users will assume that these are still just audio broadcasts). But it surely could be at the least one option to higher showcase live video content, and with X also seeking to put more emphasis on live-streams, that might be a vital, and invaluable addition.

But it surely seems like a half measure, a minor step towards improving the video experience, versus, say, adding a full-screen video feed as a swipeable tab, and even opening to a video feed, with users then switching across to their regular post feed.

That will be a radical change, but when X really desires to make video work, it definitely must guide more users towards its video content. And I’m undecided that this update, whether it is rolled out, goes to do it.

But I do think that this is also a matter of capability, and what X is definitely in a position to do with far fewer staff.

The X team has repeatedly touted its massive list of innovations and increased update velocity since Elon Musk took over on the app, however the overwhelming majority of those had actually been in development for months, and even years, before Musk wandered into the constructing carrying a sink.

For this reason, while X has rolled out numerous things, it actually hasn’t built many recent elements from scratch, and it’ll be interesting to see now, with all of its old, shelved projects launched, what the X team can do with a much smaller team.

You’ll assume that the majority of the remaining staff are simply focused on keeping things running, which could make actual, large-scale development difficult, and with that in mind, possibly repurposing other elements is the very best that X can currently do to spice up discovery.

It also makes it a less-than-ideal time for X to be pushing people to pay $8 per thirty days to make use of the app, because it’s not improving as a service. But however, the possibility to make cash out of your posts shall be a lure on this sense, and many of the current X Premium subscribers are supporters of Elon Musk, and his ongoing mission to secure free speech within the app. Which, in Musk’s view, appears to be the correct to insult people and/or make whatever false claims you want, without consequence.

The purpose is, this shouldn’t be an enormous change, and it’s unlikely to be an actual driver of increased video consumption within the app, which is seemingly what X is aiming for with its recent push. An even bigger update is probably going needed to actually change user behavior on this respect, but possibly, X shouldn’t be currently in a position to implement a more significant process.