Twitter finally deploys a way to charge for tweeting that doesn’t involve putting a Venmo link to your biography, promoting a Patreon, or using the app to search for a wealthy spouse.
On Thursday, the company announced a new feature that could change the overall operation of the app: Super Follows, which is essentially paid subscriptions for individual Twitter feeds. Users will now be able to pay for certain types of content via Twitter with “Super Follows,” allowing them to upload more for various types of content. According to the Virgin, which could include giving paid subscribers access to private tweet feeds, Twitter new newsletter feature, or profile badges. Another feature announced Thursday, the ability for users to create and join groups called Communities, can also be protected against payment. Both additions will not be released for a few months and, according to the Virgin, it is unclear how big a Twitter cut in revenue will be.
This is a big change in the way Twitter works: a rather long and rather tired joke on the site has been that “this site is free,” referring to the fact that none of its content directly costs any money. The reverse of this equation is that earning revenue with a Twitter presence is impossible without diverting fans anywhere else, even if it’s just to pay for access to private Twitter feed. So this is a big change, as it could transform incentives for users to participate in the site in the first place and allow Twitter to compete directly with the Patreon crowdfunding app and similar payment tools on Facebook and YouTube.
It’s also easy to see how this could open up a Pandora’s box on Twitter. For a long time he has struggled to curb toxic communities such as white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and far-right trolls, who could now use the app as a way to make money. Adding private feeds to subscribers could also allow those so inclined to hide things like bullying campaigns behind pay walls, where this content will be accessible to a smaller group of paying followers, which is unlikely to inform the site moderators. (It’s already possible to do this through direct messaging, blocked accounts, and off-site coordination, but still).
Similarly, the Communities feature sounds pretty close to Facebook Groups. Facebook relied on the news feed to focus on Groups in 2019, which it did disastrous consequences after these groups, death threats, harassment, and calls for violence were infested.
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Another thing that Twitter has not clarified is whether it will allow Super Follows for sexual content, a type of content that is only subject to a handful of restrictions anywhere else on the site (such as not posting it on banner images or profile pictures). If allowed, the site would compete directly with sites like OnlyFans, although when Samantha Cole’s motherboard asked Twitter whether or not it will allow users to pay for porn, the company responded with a no response, stating that it was “examining and rethinking the incentives of our service.”
The announcement has also sparked a wave of speculation about how I’m kidding or not me of journalists and other types of media about whether or not their employers will allow them to charge for tweets. It’s no secret that journalists are among the most addicted to Twitter on the planet and make up a large percentage advanced users they dominate the app feed … and so it’s easy to see why it’s an appealing fantasy for them.
Suffice it to say that while anything you subsidize, for example, tech bloggers who buy luxury aquariums it is welcome, the great appetite of readers to fund 280-character information or the willingness of news organizations to let staff go on the sidelines is, at best, speculative.
Twitter has recently launched countless features, including Instagram-esque fleets; newsletters; ia Audio similar to the house chat tool. He acquired one screen sharing app called Squad this could be useful if you decide to launch a streaming service and an advertising technology company called CrossInstall which could help fix your notorious advertising tools. All of this could be related to one failed investor blow led by vampire hedge fund Elliott Management last March, demanding Twitter regain much more profitable competition.
According to Virgo, Twitter said Thursday during a business presentation that paid subscriptions and the community function are marked as “what’s to come” without presenting a solid timeline for its implementation. For cnbc, Twitter told analysts and investors that it hopes the new features will help it reach its $ 7.5 billion annual revenue goal by 2023, about twice the amount of money it earns now.