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Andrew Macarthy

In late October, 2013, Twitter rolled out an update to its desktop site and mobile apps that changes howimages (

specif ically those that are uploaded to the site directly) and Vine videos are displayed to users in theirf eeds. Let's take a look at the changes in detail and how you can use them f or marketing purposes.

In the past, images and Vine videos posted to Twitter would appear as a link in a tweet, and be completelyhidden. To see the image or video, a user had to click on a link and the photo or video would unveil itselfwithin the f eed, as shown above.

Following the update, a portion of the uploaded image or Vine video is visible in the f eed. Users can eitherclick on the media to see it in a pop-up window, or click the Expand link, upon which the f ull image or videowill be unveiled, as above.

This new way of displaying images on Twitter makes the social network more visual than ever bef ore, andalso opens up new ways f or brands to highlight their wares. Here are three approaches you can take:

Promote events and sales

img: Kris Krug

Use the portion of the Twitter image that displays to promote a product or event. Nice and simple.

Reveal an of fer

img: Lali Masriera

For a bit more mystery and excitement, create an image f or Twitter that can only be revealed if a user clicksor expands your photo.

Give Vine videos a cover photo

When a Vine video is posted to Twitter, the recording's f irst f rame becomes the preview that users see inthe f eed. To compel more people to click on it and watch, plan your shoot so that the f irst recorded f rameis what you want the cover photo to be, whether it 's simply the tit le of your video as above, or a still shotof the drama within.

Twitter feed image positioning

The way that Twitter's image and Vine video previews are displayed in the f eed means that you will have toplan ahead if you want your message to show exactly as you want, without it being cropped and hidden.

When you upload a still image as a square - I recommend this as it is the shape most commonly used onmany social networks - the centre third of the image is what will appear in the preview window on Twitter,while the remaining top and bottom portions are revealed when the image is expanded. Theref ore, aim tokeep your most important message in the middle block of space.

Vine videos act a litt le dif f erently. When posted and viewed on desktops, the top half of the f irst f rame ofthe video shows in the preview window, and the bottom half is revealed when the media is expanded. Onmobiles, Vine videos act likes images - the centre third of the preview image is shown.

Conclusion and template

I hope this post has given you some inspiration f or how you might take advantage of Twitter's newpreviews f or images and Vine videos. If you are interested in making the job super easy, you can grab thetemplate I have created f or designing Twitter images with messages that f it perf ectly within the previewwindow (along with numerous others) over on my Social Media Templates page.

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