Twitter is adding group messaging and video chat to its social network, letting users to direct message up to 20 people at once.
New! Use Direct Messages to speak privately with a group of up to 20 people. Share Tweets, show emoji & be yourself.
https://t.co/8giGhC6OO0
— Twitter (@twitter) January 27, 2015
Users will also be able to film, edit and share video clips of up to 30 seconds in length.
The announcement will be seen as an attempt to boost the amount of time people spend on Twitter.
Group chat and video sharing are services which have proved hugely popular on instant messaging platforms such as Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
Snapchat has also capitalised on short-form video-sharing, boasting 700 million photos and videos sent daily.
As competition grows from other social networks, Twitter is clearly keen to keep its users engaged.
Announcing the news in a blog post, Twitter said group messages would provide “more options for how and with whom you communicate on Twitter”.