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Twitter woos creative community at Powered by Tweets event

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By Jessica Davies, News Editor

February 1, 2013 | 3 min read

Twitter is fast becoming a discovery channel for TV and a creative canvas for advertisers, according to the social network’s UK director Bruce Daisley.

Speaking at Twitter’s Powered By Tweets event for the creative industry in London yesterday, Daisley said information is traveling further and faster on the social network with 1 billion tweets sent every 2.5 days.

“We have gone from being about transmitting short bursts of information to becoming the pulse of the planet,” he said.

People’s use of Twitter to report and react to real-world events, such as the recent ball-boy incident in the football match between Chelsea and Swansea, is amplifying engagement around such events, which brands can tap-in to, according to Daisley.

“This is what we are seeing time and time again – the opportunity to play out stories in real time – to seize the moment presented. The ability to tap into these conversations is a big opportunity for brands,” he said.

Meanwhile the social network, which has 200 million users globally – 10 million in the UK – is developing an increasingly symbiotic relationship with TV, according to Daisley. The majority (80 per cent) of users access Twitter via mobile devices, which opens up a host of second-screen opportunities for brands, he said.

“You’re catching people in the second-screen environment, while on the move and in the moment. It’s a platform that lets you create locally and globally and can provide a creative canvas, which reflects what goes on in the real world,” he said.

Nearly two thirds (60 per cent) of UK Twitter users access the social network while watching TV, with 40 per cent of all peak-time Twitter traffic occurring around TV shows, according to figures Twitter cited from SecondSync.

Fellow speaker at the event, Twitter UK head of planning Oli Snoddy, said the social network is fast becoming regarded as the social EPG (electronic programme guide) for TV and a vital discovery channel for TV shows, adding “Twitter is starting to become the second screen to TV”.

It has been working with broadcasters including ITV to understand the patterns of Twitter engagement around shows including TOWIE, and Downton Abbey as well as during the ad breaks.

Some of the most interesting creative opportunities are around features including in-tweet live stream and instant replay videos, according to Snoddy. Several brands including Nazcar and ESPN have trialled these formats in the US, with ESPN embedding sports instant replay videos in tweets last December. The social network is looking to encourage the use of this feature across all topics including fashion, weather and news.

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