In November, Twitter stated it would generate a way for people to independently send messages to groups -- rather than just to individuals -- as well as expand its video offerings. Starting Tuesday, those features will be available to customers on most devices, including those from Apple and those powered by Google's Android operating system.
The refinements come as fears continue to build about Twitter's capability to expand both its number of users and their activity while also appealing to advertisers. The company has grappled with inconsistent user growth, most recently tallying 284 million users who logged into the site at least once a day in the third quarter -- a 23 percent jump from a year earlier.
Investors, who aren't convinced that Twitter can keep boosting user development, have pushed down the company's stock more than 35 percent over the past year.
By letting people shoot, edit and post their own videos from within the Twitter app, the company has a possible to both attract advertisers and improve usage of its platform. Twitter concentrated its engineering efforts on making it as easy as possible for people to shoot and share video, said Jinen Kamdar, a product director the social network.
"We are enhancing for quick and instant sharing," he said.
Twitter bought video-sharing service Vine in 2012. Vine, a standalone app, has gained millions of users by letting people post six-second videos.
He expanded direct-messages feature will make it easier for groups of people to communicate privately, Kamdar said. Facebook has similar features focused on connecting friends and family. Twitter's offering differs by allowing its users to remain anonymous.
"The thing that makes Twitter distinctive is that the people you socialize with are people you may not know," Kamdar said. Having the capacity to communicate in chats away from the public stream will appeal to some users.