Twitter Mulls an In-House Video-Hosting Service 
 
 If you want something done right, do it yourself. 
 
 Twitter is considering building its own video-hosting technology, according to sources. That means users could upload video directly via the service’s mobile apps, instead of using hosting services like yFrog, TwitVid and Vodpod. 
 
 That potential change would be in line with a number of tweaks the site has made to its applications throughout 2012. Until recently, Twitter also delegated photo hosting to third-party services; Twitter moved that hosting in-house with the most recent app updates. 
 
 Mind you, this doesn’t mean Twitter expects users to start using its homegrown solution for the bulk of the videos people share of the service. It still expects most people to post clips using links from sites like YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo. 
 
 People familiar with Twitter’s thinking say the switch would be a way of further refining Twitter’s consistency and user experience, better shaping how users encounter Twitter content. It’s Twitter’s theme over the past year. (Example: The LinkedIn situation from months ago.) 
 
 While these video services take some of the heavy lifting off of Twitter, they also create difficulties. For one, Twitter has no control over the changes others make to their products. Yet often, Twitter must deal with the fallout when these changes occur. So, say, a third-party Twitter developer screws something up for its users — those users don’t necessarily go to the developer with complaints, but instead take it directly to Twitter. 
 
 I’d imagine, too, that every time Twitter updates one of its clients, it is frustrating to configure the new version to work with a number of outside hosting services. Add in the fact that Twitter has clients across multiple operating systems, and it fast becomes a logistical headache. 
 
 It’s not only about tech problems, but creating better ways to make tweets richer. Over the past few months, Twitter has slowly, increasingly updated the product to be more media-friendly, with full photos, videos and snippets of news articles now viewable from within individual tweets themselves. 
 
 Owning that rich video experience has monetization upside. One source says building a more effective video player could be a way of better enhancing the company’s existing advertising products, namely the promoted suite. 
 
 Look at it this way: If a big brand buys a promoted tweet, the advertiser needs to make that tweet as compelling as possible to get their money’s worth. The better the tweet, the higher the likelihood of click-through or, at minimum, brand awareness. A simpler, more reliable way for partners to host their video makes for a better, media-rich stream. In theory, it’s good for both users and advertisers. 
 
 Who it’s not so good for: These third-party hosting services. Were Twitter to follow through with the plan, this would seriously dampen the number of video uploads these services would receive. Users could still upload video to these third-party services and then add the link in manually, but the loss of official Twitter app integration would sting. 
 
 As of today, it’s not a done deal; Folks inside the company are still hashing out whether to make the change. But if it were to come about, I’d expect it to come quietly in a future product update. 
 
 (Image courtesy of Juan Manuel Romo) ||||| SAN FRANCISCo (Reuters) - Four senior Twitter executives are leaving the media company, CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted late Sunday night, the biggest leadership changes since Dorsey returned as chief executive as he struggles to revive the company’s growth. 
 
 Media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, product head Kevin Weil, the head of the engineering division, Alex Roetter, and HR head Brian “Skip” Schipper will all leave the company, he said. 
 
 Addressing what he called inaccurate press rumors, Dorsey praised the four executives and said he was sad to announce their departures. 
 
 Twitter’s stock has fallen nearly 50 percent since Dorsey’s return last year and is now trading below its IPO price amid concern the company has failed to significantly boost its user base despite a quicker pace of product rollouts under Dorsey. 
 
 On Sunday night Jason Toff, who heads Twitter’s video streaming service, Vine, tweeted that he was also leaving Twitter to join Google to work on virtual reality. Dorsey’s tweet did not mention him. 
 
 In an earnings conference call in October, Dorsey spoke about “hiring and investing in talent” and the need for “bold rethinking.” 
 
 Twitter may announce other executive changes, including the recruitment of a new chief marketing officer, on Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter. The company will announce two new board members soon, the person added. 
 
 Dorsey tweeted that Chief Operating Officer Adam Bain will take on additional responsibilities as a result of the departures, including revenue-related product teams and the HR team. 
 
 Chief Technical Officer Adam Messinger will handle the engineering team, he said. 
 
 Weil, Stanton, Schipper and Roetter are among the highest-level departures in recent months, but several executives have left Twitter since co-founder Dorsey stepped in as interim CEO in July. He has since been named Twitter CEO. 
 
 Dorsey, who is also CEO of financial services technology company Square, has yet to lay out a detailed plan of what he wants Twitter to do differently. Dorsey plans a retreat with Twitter executives this week, the source said. 
 
 Weil has been at Twitter since 2009, although he has only served as its product head for about a year. He has often served as a face of the company, speaking at conferences and hinting at new developments on the site, such as a character count that would exceed the current 140-character limit. 
 
 Twitter has shuffled through three product heads since 2014, and Dorsey has played an increasingly large role in product development. 
 
 Stanton joined the company in 2010 and was tasked with growing its audience outside the United States. She previously worked at Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and Yahoo Inc YHOO.O as well as the White House and State Department. 
 
 Twitter, which has just over 300 million users, had its slowest user growth in 2015 and was eclipsed by photo-sharing app Instagram, owned by Facebook Inc (FB.O), which surpassed 400 million users last year. 
 
 Since his return, Dorsey has launched Moments, a product developed by Weil, which showcases Twitter’s best tweets and content, laid off 300 workers and hired former Google executive Omid Kordestani as executive chairman. 
 
 The Twitter logo is shown at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California April 28, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith 
 
 The news of the executive departures was first reported by the technology news site Re/Code. (on.recode.net/1RHgCtc) 
 
 Re/Code also reported on expected board changes, and the New York Times reported the company planned to name the two new board members. (nyti.ms/1UkR96E) ||||| Before Twitter suspended Alex Jones, Infowars was already directing users to Tumblr 
 
 CLOSE Facebook says it has taken down four pages belonging to rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for violating its hate speech and bullying policies. The Infowars YouTube channel was also terminated. (Aug. 6) AP 
 
 Alex Jones and his brand Infowars were purged from many major social media sites over the last week. Just a few Infowars accounts online remain. (Photo: Tamir Kalifa, AP) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO – Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones won't get to tweet for a week. But even before the mild sanctioning from the social media service, his Infowars account had been directing users to another social media platform – Verizon-owned Tumblr. 
 
 Starting last Tuesday, Twitter suspended the personal account of the "Infowars" host for violating the social media company's rules against inciting violence after Jones tweeted a link to a video on Twitter's Periscope service calling for supporters to get their “battle rifles” ready against media and "antifa" activists. 
 
 Twitter said in a statement that Jones' account "currently has limited functionality." Jones was told the account would regain full functionality seven days after the removal of a tweet with "a broadcast in violation of our rules." 
 
 The one-week suspension will prevent Jones from tweeting or retweeting, though he will be able to browse Twitter. The Twitter account for his “Infowars” show remains active. 
 
 In an interview Wednesday with NBC News' Lester Holt, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called the suspension a "timeout." 
 
 "I feel any suspension, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors,” Dorsey said. 
 
 Dorsey also said that Twitter has been consistent in its enforcement of rules in Jones' case, while other companies have been "a little bit inconsistent." 
 
 The enforcement applies to both Jones' Twitter and Periscope accounts. 
 
 Jones, a far-right pundit and provocateur, has promoted widely debunked theories. Among other things, he said the Sandy Hook Elementary School murders were staged, and he said survivors of the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting were actors. 
 
 He has a large following on social media, including 889,000 followers on Twitter. And he has been praised by President Donald Trump, who appeared on "InfoWars" during the 2016 presidential campaign. 
 
 Infowars had already been directing followers to yet another site – Tumblr. 
 
 "They can take our Facebook, Apple, Spotify, Tunein, Youtube, Stitcher, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Flickr, Vimeo, Sprout, Mailchimp & Disqus but they'll never take our...........Tumblr!" Infowars tweeted Tuesday. The tweet includes a link to the Infowars Tumblr page. 
 
 They can take our Facebook, Apple, Spotify, Tunein, Youtube, Stitcher, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Flickr, Vimeo, Sprout, Mailchimp & Disqus but they'll never take our...........Tumblr! 🤣🤣🤣 
 
 
 
 Get the free app while you still can: https://t.co/vm914ii1lhhttps://t.co/BifgnMVgS5pic.twitter.com/d1BEhEHGK8 — infowars (@infowars) August 14, 2018 
 
 Even as they vow to halt the spread of fake news, the major tech platforms that host social media services have been loathe to eliminate users for promoting debunked theories. Instead, they have leaned on other policies to curtail these activities. 
 
 Google-owned YouTube terminated his account for violating community guidelines. Facebook removed pages for violating the social network's policy against hate speech. Apple took down his podcasts because the company "does not tolerate hate speech." The Infowars app is still available on Apple's App Store and Google's Google Play. 
 
 Until Tuesday, despite mounting complaints that it had been ignoring Jones' violations of policies, Twitter had maintained he had done nothing wrong. 
 
 The halting moves to stem Jones' social media distribution has intensified a discussion about how these powerful platforms, which haven taken the place of traditional media for many Americans, decide what content users see. While many have lauded Facebook, Apple and others for removing his content, others have warned allowing platforms to moderate speech based on objectionable content is a slippery slope by companies that have a reputation for applying rules about speech unevenly. 
 
 Jones has used the moves as a battle cry, calling the purge of his online accounts a conspiracy by "big tech" to censor conservative viewpoints ahead of the 2018 midterm election and 2020 presidential election. 
 
 He has directed users to other outlets. The Infowars Tumblr page includes links to Infowars-related sites such as newswars.com and prisonplanet.com. Tumblr is a blogging and social media platform owned by Oath Inc., a subsidiary of Verizon. 
 
 Tumblr did not respond to a request for comment. 
 
 Jones continues to stream his show live on Infowars.com. His accounts on lesser-known social media sites, which are known to be popular among the alt-right, remain live as well. 
 
 Mike Snider contributed to this report. 
 
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– Twitter is looking into the idea of developing its own video hosting capabilities, so users won't have to turn to third-party services like yFrog, TwitVid, or Vodpod to share their videos with the world, sources tell All Things Digital. While Twitter still expects most users to upload their videos on services like YouTube or Vimeo, it thinks offering its homegrown option will help refine Twitter's user experience. Meanwhile, Twitter co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey confirmed that he'd taken a step back from his operational role in the company, but denied a New York Times report that it was because "employees complained that he was difficult to work with." In a Tumblr post, Dorsey said he stepped back because he wanted to spend "the majority of my time with Square, where I'm CEO."