Twitter, 140 characters + Video

Twitter has discovered their secret sauce. If you plan to lead your users to water, you might as well make them drink it, too.   Their model is more than just short messages, but links to other Twitter sites to enable more advertising opportunities.  And the best way to do it is with high quality, valued content.  "Twitter Inc. is close to reaching partnerships with television networks that would bring more high-quality video content and advertising to the social site, according to people familiar with the matter." 

And video, depending on its length, can provide Twitter with multiple revenue opportunities, from pre-roll to overlays to banners and more.  What sponsored messages can't do, video links can.  And video means more time spent on the linked site.  Perfect too for mobile, both smartphones and tablets, to move Twitter users to other sites.   Most importantly, it could work to build their own aggregated platform of content, like Huffington Post, Yahoo, and other sites. What the final intention may be for Twitter has not been fully disclosed, although to me, the opportunities for them to grow are enabled with video partnerships.