Indians go to Twitter videos for news, updates and to follow celebrities, says study

• For 62% of its users, Twitter is one of the main sources for video content.
• Around 49% of users rely on Twitter to keep a track of business and finance updates.
• Twitter’s Preetha Athrey tells Business Insider that there is an appetite for both short-form and long-form video content.

The pandemic has fuelled a massive surge in video consumption on media platforms and one of the biggest beneficiaries of this rising trend is microblogging site Twitter.

According to a report that was released on Thursday titled ‘Video Behaviour on Twitter,’ 62% of its users say that Twitter is one of their main sources for video content online.

The report by Twitter has found that 51% use the platform as the medium for current news and latest updates, while 43% users like to follow celebrities. About 49% of the users rely on Twitter to keep track of business and finance updates.

“We know that video consumption is on the rise and so we did a study on consumer behaviour to get a deeper understanding on what are the content they (users) are consuming, what kind of content and what are other format preferences, what motivates them to stop and watch the video and engage with any particular piece of content,” Preetha Athrey, director, global business marketing, Twitter APAC, told Business Insider India.

A report by Bain has forecast that online video consumption in India is set to explode by 2025. In India around 60% of internet users, or 350 million, consume online videos. Bain expects these numbers to jump to about 650 million by 2025.

Length no bar

Twitter’s survey says that the demand for long-form and shorter videos was equally strong, with these videos satiating the need for entertainment and information.

“There is an appetite for both short-form and long-form video content, going hand in hand, and it’s playing across the board and Twitter simultaneously,” Athrey said.

Around 58% of the people watch at least one video during the day, which is a heavy engagement. According to the report, about 56% of the users said they had watched videos on Twitter for at least five minutes a day while turning on the audio.

More than half of Twitter users search for videos on the platform, while 42% discover them while scrolling through the app, the report noted. Users across India perceive videos not only as entertaining but also as informative.

About 79% people in India use Twitter more when they're watching sports content, and what they seek on Twitter is exclusive content, game highlights, interesting stats and live coverage, the report noted.

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