Twitter Lets Complainers Unite

Something looks pretty familiar over at Twitter...its just-announced mobile video camera and private group messaging looks at lot like some of its social media brethren.

Twitter's new private conversations allow users to converse with a group of up to 20 people who may prefer to talk about tweets "privately" (see Twitter's example below). The problem, however, is that unlike Instagram and Facebook (where group messaging can also take place), Twitter is known to be a haven for complainers. This gives us a nagging feeling that not all private conversations are going to be about kittens and rainbows, especially since users are already leveraging Twitter to direct message brands.

This could be a customer service headache, as someone can start a conversation with a dozen-plus of their closest friends about a bad experience he or she had with that company. Users can essentially "cc" their friends. Now, instead of one upset customer to manage, brands have to find a way to move multiple users off of the public forum (even if it's a private message) to a more appropriate place (like phone, email, etc.). Banks and other regulated industries will need to be even more careful in moving the conversations to a secure place.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Twitter's other announcement is one that brands can utilize to increase engagement - the social network's new mobile video camera, which allows users to capture, edit and share videos right from the Twitter app. According to Twitter's blog, "In just a few taps you can add a video to unfolding conversations, share your perspective of a live event, and show your everyday moments instantly, without ever having to leave the app. Viewing and playing videos is just as simple: videos are previewed with a thumbnail and you can play them with just one tap."

Twitter's mobile video camera lets users capture and share videos up to 30 seconds. This is currently available on Twitter for iPhone and will be available on its Android app soon.

The first Tweet using the mobile video camera was from Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris.