Twitter Super Follows: Microblogging site Twitter has announced Super Follows, a feature which would allow users to charge their followers for exclusive benefits. It is one of the two biggest changes the platform has announced in recent times. Under this, the users would be able to charge followers in exchange for content like bonus tweets, a badge to show the support of the followers for the users, and even subscription to newsletters. The company envisions it as a method through which content creators and publishers would be able to earn directly by their fans.
The model has been successful on some other platforms, and therefore, Twitter has played relatively safe with this update. Such tools have worked well for platforms like Facebook and Google-owned YouTube. Apart from that, Patreon, a platform dedicated to allowing content creators to provide a subscription service, has also been highly popular among users. There are also chances that from these payments, a cut would go to Twitter, especially as the platform has been indicating on looking at subscriptions as alternative sources of revenue. However, this is just speculation, with no official confirmation.
The other key announcement that Twitter made on Thursday was about a feature called Communities. The feature seems similar to the concept of Facebook Groups, wherein people having similar interests can create groups and join them. This would let them see more posts focused on their interests. Groups has been present on Facebook for a really long time, and it has been quite successful as well, despite the huge problem of moderation. But, the feature of Communities could come in handy for new Twitter users who are unsure of how to start using the platform.
The announcements were made by the microblogging site during a meeting with analysts and investors, and the company has not yet given any specific timeline regarding the launch of these features.
