Periscope broadcasts can now be embedded elsewhere on the web, including both ongoing live ones and already-recorded streams. The Twitter-owned service says starting today, all you need to do to use the feature is embed a tweet containing the Periscope stream and it will play just like a standard embedded GIF or video file. The move is designed to let Twitter users more easily share Periscope broadcasts on other social networks, and to allow website owners and journalists to embed streams directly into articles.

It's not a substantial shift for Periscope, but it does show the service is still pushing its product to stay competitive with Facebook's live video efforts. Periscope and Facebook Live are the two preeminent live streaming platforms, but Facebook has been pouring an immense amount of resources into its video infrastructure over the last year. As a result, Facebook's video platform has grown more popular, shareable, and dynamic. The social network supports native 360-degree streams, while Twitter does not, and has allowed live video embeds since it launched live streaming in December 2015. Facebook also pays publishers and public figures to use its platform, which in effect pulls attention away from competitors' products.

Periscope, to its credit, continues to introduce new features. Alongside embedded broadcasts, the service is introducing a new perk called Highlights, which are automatically generated trailers for Periscope streams. Periscope says it looks at "a variety of signals to determine what parts of a replay should be included in highlight and will continue to improve these signals over time." Another new feature is autoplay on Android, which automatically plays active broadcasts in the "watch" tab and the global feed without sound. Highlights is coming to iOS and Android over the next few days, Periscope says, while autoplay is arriving on Android soon with an iOS implementation down the line.