Twitter now testing autoplay promoted videos

Twitter is currently testing a new feature, which will allow the social networking service to host autoplay videos in user news feeds. Autoplay is such an important part of social networking, as it is an easy way for companies to grab a user’s attention, and put a message across in a short amount of time.

Currently, a small pool of U.S. users accessing the social network on an iOS device have been able to see videos start without hitting play, since the feature rolled out for testing last week. Twitter is experimenting with two versions of the test: In one case, some users will see an entire video play on a loop, while others will see six seconds of a video teaser play in a loop.

Reports indicate that the test applies to Promoted Video ads, clips uploaded directly via Twitter’s app and videos in its Amplify program, which helps brands like the NBA promote video clips with a teaser ad from a sponsor.

The move will mean Twitter is competing with sites such as Facebook, which dominate the video sphere.