Tech billionaire Elon Musk revealed that X, formerly known as Twitter, is set to introduce video to Spaces, the micro-blogging platform's live audio conversation feature. Musk indicated that the feature is expected to roll out by the end of this year, with a definite launch "certainly by early next year", as first spotted by TechCrunch.
“From a feature standpoint, we are working on adding video to Spaces,” Musk said. “It’ll just be a simple thing where you can turn the video on or off.”
By introducing video to Spaces, X aims to provide users with a means to enhance audience engagement directly within the social network, eliminating the need to rely on external platforms.
During a Spaces session led by Mario Nawfal yesterday, Musk disclosed the news. The session featured controversial figures like Andrew Tate, Vivek Ramaswamy, Alex Jones, and others. Musk joined the Spaces after X reinstated Alex Jones' account following a user poll. Jones gained notoriety for spreading conspiracies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, resulting in 28 fatalities.
The X owner highlighted that in Spaces sessions with multiple speakers, the video feed will seamlessly switch to the person currently speaking, resembling the functionality seen in Google Meet and other video conferencing platforms. Musk alsomentioned that in Spaces sessions with multiple speakers, the video feed will transition to the current speaker, similar to how it operates in platforms like Google Meet.
To recall, upon its launch in 2021, Spaces emerged as a direct rival to Clubhouse, a platform that surged in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following Musk's acquisition of X, notable alterations to Spaces have been absent, except for rebranding it from Twitter Spaces to X Spaces. Now, Musk and X are poised to expand Spaces beyond audio-only conversations.
Notably, Musk is facing challenges in ensuring a seamless workflow at X, formerly Twitter. The billionaire is under scrutiny from advertisers for his outspoken posts and recent comments on an antisemitic conspiracy theory. There are internal issues within the company, with several employees, both senior and junior in the sales department, resigning from their positions.
There has been a wave of resignations at Musk-owned X, shortly after the company gave out bonus checks in November, according to a recent report by Claire Atkinson.
Sources close to X are telling me that there’s been a wave of resignations from Linda Yaccarino’s sales team with some of the last remaining ad executives from before her arrival finally throwing in the towel, the report noted.