Twitter, realistically speaking, maybe has a long way to go before it can match up to the popularity of Facebook as far as social media on mobile apps are concerned, but it seems like they could be heading the right way. Per reports, Twitter is planning to reveal a set of Instagram-styled photo filters to its mobile apps in the coming months.

Twitter's planning for photo filters for its mobile applications, according to people who work at the company but asked not to be named as they are not allowed to discuss unannounced projects. The app will allow people to share altered images on Twitter instead of Instagram, the popular mobile-based photo-sharing network.

While Twitter hasn't really mentioned anything regarding this forthcoming feature, it could easily arrive as a direct response to Facebook's acquisition of Instagram earlier this year, a service that has gained popularity in no time and has become the primary social network for sharing images.

 New York Times was first to disclose the news and was told by a Twitter employee that "the company's V.I.T.'s, or Very Important Tweeters, as they are known internally, usually celebrities and media personalities, would be especially happy to see filters in the Twitter mobile apps. Most V.I.T.'s now use Instagram to take photos, and then share them on Twitter, where they often have a larger following."

Although, currently, Twitter and Instagram remain tightly integrated, it's not really a surprise if Twitter would likely prefer its users to stay on its own platform for taking and sharing photos rather than using a Facebook-backed product for all the users' photo-sharing needs.

Twitter is believed to have been considering a photo-centric product acquisition for quite some time now. However, the move to build its own filters picked up pace after Facebook confirmed that it would buy Instagram for $1 billion. The deal later ended up closing at $715 million after Facebook's steep stock drop.

More details have revealed that Twitter is also "exploring adding other tools to its mobile applications, one employee said, including the ability to upload and possibly edit videos without having to go through a third-party application or service, like YouTube."

Carolyn Penner, a Twitter spokeswomen, according to the New York Times, declined to comment.