Twitter previewed its ‘Super Follow’ and ‘Tip Jar’ options at its Analyst Day in February. Now, it is emerging that it is testing out the two much-expected features at the user level.
Popular and respected Twitter researcher and analyst, Jane Manchun Wong, has scooped the new profile layouts, incorporating both the new options.
Going by the formats that she has put out, Twitter users will have a ‘Tipping’ button to accept monetary contributions direct on their profile.
And there will be a ‘Super Follow’ to replace the ‘Follow’ button, which will likely allow twitter handles to charge for exclusive content.
Twitter is still to finalise the design or details, but what is sure is users will have a few new optional buttons to add to their profiles, if they intend to monetize their Twitter following.
The Tip Jar feature
Twitter was expected to incorporate the tip jar feature for its audio-only Spaces platform. But apparently Twitter may add the tip button to individual profiles as well. It is like Patreon for tweets. The tipping will be down through a few of the many cash apps that abound in the market (Bandcamp, PayPal, Venmo et al).
If it is released, the caveat here is users will need to have a certain number of followers to use the feature.
Twitter’s audio Spaces rival Clubhouse has already started its direct payment feature from early this month.
The Super Follow feature
The Super Follow is expected to allow content creators on Twitter to charge a pay-to-follow subscription fee from users who wish to get access to exclusive content.
Though it is not clear what the creators will offer, it can be pay-walled content, deals, discounts, and community access.
Similar membership platforms like Patreon have had good success with this model. But whether it can work on Twitter is something that’s difficult to guess as of now.
For the feature to be a hit, it has to offer other things beyond just extra tweets.
Another factor that will determine whether or not the Super Follow feature will take off is how Twitter plans to share the revenue with creators.
Overall, it is clear Twitter is building towards the next stage of more enclosed, exclusive content tools, that will work towards subscriptions, and more revenue options — for both Twitter and the users of the platform.
