Published 14:51 IST, February 26th 2021
What is Twitter's 'Super Follow' feature that will ask users to pay for content
American microblogging and social networking service, Twitter has announced that it will be launching a “super follow” feature letting users charge followers.
American microblogging and social networking service, Twitter has announced on Thursday that it will be launching a “super follow” feature letting users charge followers for access to exclusive content, later this year. The move came just when Twitter is branching out from advertising to explore more ways of making money, not only for itself but also for its most prolific users. In an investor presentation on February 25, the microblogging website unveiled the brand new feature for users to charge followers to see exclusive content that will not be shared with regular followers.
The content can include subscriber-only newsletters, videos, deals and discounts with users paying a monthly subscription fee to access the exclusive posts. As per reports, Twitter users, as well as the investors of the company, had been long-asking for a subscription-based model such as the ones used by creators and influencers on platforms like Patreon, Substack and OnlyFans to make money from their online popularity. The ‘Super Follow’ feature will allow Twitter to tap into explore the wider range of revenue sources through online advertising, which is currently dominated by Google and Facebook.
As per the Guardian report, Twitter said in a statement, “Exploring audience funding opportunities like Super Follows will allow creators and publishers to be directly supported by their audience and will incentivize them to continue creating content that their audience loves.” Even though Super Follows is not available yet but the company said it will have “more to share” in the coming months.
Other coming Twitter products
Apart from Super Follows, another coming Twitter product is ‘Revue’ that will let people publish paid or free newsletters for their respective audience. In December 2020, Twitter announced that its beta test of audio chat rooms is now live. Announcing “we’re live”, Twitter introduced a brand new feature called ‘Spaces’ that would allow the users to share audio clips in tweets as well as direct messages. The users of the social media website will not only let users create their own rooms for others to join but also provides control over who can speak in their own ‘Spaces’. About the new feature, Twitter said that it’s a “small experiment focused on the intimacy of the human voice."
Updated 14:51 IST, February 26th 2021