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Twitter has become the go-to place for many during breaking news events as updates and eyewitness reaction quickly floods onto the platform.
Now the social media site appears to be testing out live streams of local TV news stations during such events.
The feature was used to cover the high school shooting in Florida, with Miami station WSVN 7 being streamed on the site as the story unfolded.
Twitter is yet to say how widespread it plans to make the feature but has hinted at its reasons for adding the component in the first place – to curb the spread of misinformation.
“We’re continuing to work on new ways we can surface credible content and relevant information to help people stay informed,” said Twitter’s general manager of video Kayvon Beykpour.
“By pairing live video with the conversation on Twitter, there is no faster way to see what’s happening in the world.”
Twitter is among social media platforms criticised for its failure to stem the flow of fake news.
This trial feature, bringing live news from the scene directly to user feeds, could be a way of combating such content.
Clicking on a live video which appears on the site also opens an algorithm-powered feed of tweets linked to the news event.
Twitter has made a conscious effort over the last year to push its video content – it has previously live-streamed some smaller sporting events in the US as well as parts of Wimbledon via its official channel – as the site looks to better define its identity.
To do that, Twitter appears to be embracing news at a time when other social media platforms are stepping away from it slightly. Facebook has changed its news feed so it’s less loaded with content from publishers and more focused on posts from friends and family.
Meanwhile, Snapchat is currently rolling out an update that it says separates the “social” from the “media” by placing public content on one side of the app and interactions with friends on the other.
