Twitter rushes to release photo filters before holidays — in response to Instagram threat

Twitter is reportedly aiming to release photo filters to be used inside its official Twitter app in time for the holiday season.

AllThingsD reported the news, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The move comes right after Twitter’s fast-growing competitor Instagram made changes to its photo display functionality, which broke Twitter’s ability to show Instagram photos properly inside the Twitter stream. Instagram is owned by Facebook, a fierce competitor to Twitter when it comes to courting people sharing their images.

The Instagram move was a blow to Twitter, because many people, especially younger users, are increasingly turning to Instagram to share and display their favorite photos. And if they can’t find them on Twitter, they’ll rely more on Facebook, which can show the photos, or on their Instagram accounts directly. Indeed, Instagram links shared on Twitter are now directing people over to the Instagram site.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twitter co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey is apparently already testing the feature, posting black and white photos of his Square employees

The holiday season is a big one for photos, because it’s a time when people go home and take a lot more photos of family and friends.

Also, Google just released robust updates Thursday to its own photo-editing and filter app, Snapseed. That app, now available on both Android and iOS, offers auto correct and filters, and lets you selectively adjust photo elements such as focus, brightness, saturation, contrast, and white balance. It also offers one-click sharing to Google’s social network, Google +.