Twitter Now Has Group Direct Messages, Mobile Video Capture, Editing Capabilities

Twitter has just enhanced its Direct Message feature, now allowing users to send Direct Messages to multiple persons at a time. In other words, you can now have private group conversations with fellow Twitter users.

Twitter has also rolled out its mobile video capture capability, letting users shoot videos and share them directly from their Twitter mobile apps. On top of that, Twitter has also editing capabilities, which means that people will be able to polish their videos before sharing them to the Twittersphere.

Twitter is clearly staying true to its promise of making its brand more engaging to users. The Group Direct Message feature is particularly interesting because it makes the Twitter app more similar to instant messaging apps wherein users can also create their own chat groups. But with Twitter's Group Direct Message feature, people will be able to create a group Direct Message with followers, regardless of whether or not those followers follow each other's Twitter accounts. Still, it is advisable to take caution on who you decide to follow because those people can now basically include you into potentially unwanted (or awkward) conversations anytime they want.

The Group Direct Message feature can include up to 20 users and also supports Tweet sharing and emoji. If anything, the feature makes it easier for people to react to or discuss a trending topic or tweet more easily among themselves. 

As for the mobile video capture feature, it lets users shoot videos of up to 30 seconds in length. If users know a little basic editing, they can cut the video before sharing it to the world directly from the app. Those who use the Twitter app on their iPhones will also be able to upload from the camera roll. As for Android users -- well, they will have to wait a little while in order to enjoy that functionality. 

But wait -- doesn't Twitter already own a video sharing service in the form of Vine? Yes, but Twitter's feature is designed more as a means to enhance the experience of a mobile Twitter app user. They can still use Vine as often as they want, but while they are using their Twitter apps, they can just share a video if they fancy doing so. And besides, you can do a lot more with 30 seconds of video footage. 

These new features join the “While You Were Away” feature widely deployed by Twitter almost a week ago. In this feature, Twitter recycles tweets that users may have missed while they were logged out of their Twitter apps.