X CEO confirms: video calling is coming to X

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has announced that video calling features are coming to X. In an interview, Yaccarino said users will soon be able to make video calls on the platform without having to share their phone number with anyone.

Video calling is positioned as one of the key steps on X’s path to becoming a super app. The company also plans to offer banking and payment services on the platform in the near future.

A few days earlier, Andrea Conway, a designer at X, had posted “just called someone on X”. At the time she didn’t say whether she meant a voice or a video call — but it now seems clear she was talking about video.

just called someone on X 🤯🤯🤯🤯

— Andrea Conway (@ehikian) August 9, 2023

There is no shortage of video calling tools, led by Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Apple FaceTime. Meta’s family of apps also takes up a large share of people’s calling routines with its video calling features.

Adding video calls to X is about more than competing with these tools: it aims to position the brand as a real-time “town square”. The goal is for users to access media, communicate and make payments without ever leaving X.

Yaccarino summed up the company’s vision by stressing that X, at the heart of the rebrand, has become a global town square fuelled by free expression, where the public gathers in real time.

As Twitter moves step by step towards becoming a super app, new features keep arriving. In recent weeks Elon Musk announced that the platform will soon run in dark mode only. The company has also started letting paying users hide their checkmarks. The long-form video format and the revenue sharing programme, live for a while now, push creators towards engagement-focused content, while the Twitter Blue subscription has been rebranded as X Premium. Judging by Yaccarino’s comments, new banking and payment features are likely to join them soon.

What does it mean for brands?

• As platforms move towards offering “everything in one app”, brands’ customer conversations stay inside that same app. Your social media account should be treated less like a notice board and more like a customer service channel.
• New features usually create an early window for organic visibility — but it is always safer not to tie your platform strategy to a single channel.