With new updates, Twitter users to get more control and security over tweets

Twitter has announced a slew of updates revolving around original content creation on Twitter Spaces, letting users get more control and security over tweets. The social-media giant will also allow users tweet beyond 280 characters.

Kayvon Beykpour, Head of Consumer Product, Twitter, said: “We want to serve the public conversation. To truly do that Twitter needs to be inclusive and accessible to people across all geographies, languages and cultures. We believe Twitter can be the conversational layer of the internet, and can lead everyone to greater opportunities to speak freely, which is core to an open society.

“We want to make users comfortable with whatever way they want to express themselves, whether it is through tweets, actual live voice conversations or longer newsletters. We are focussed on converting followers into fans and fans into funds,” he added.

Monetising spaces

Twitter Spaces is a feature where users can produce content, connect with their audience, and just express themselves through voice. Launched earlier this year, the feature has become popular among users. Hence, in the coming months, Twitter will allow recording and replays so that people can experience Spaces conversations after they happen.

There will be Ticketed Spaces to give hosts the option to set prices and audience size to get compensated for the experiences they create.

Twitter is currently testing Communities feature to enable users easily find and connect with people keen to discuss topics of common interest. Communities will help like-minded people come closer, based on what they have to say.

Payments via Bitcoins

Content creators on Spaces will be able to start monthly subscriptions for their Super Follows, where subscribers will get access to exclusive content, behind the scenes thoughts, and private conversations. “We’re just getting started and, for now, people using iOS in the US and Canada can subscribe to Super Follow these initial creators. We’ll be rolling it out more globally soon,” said Esther Crawford, Product Lead for Creator Monetisation.

“Soon, we’ll introduce a program for Spaces hosts designed to give financial, technical and marketing support to emerging audio creators who are passionate about the live audio format and are interested in creating recurring programming on Spaces,” she added.

Creators can use Tips to send and receive one-time payments using third-party services. This will be rolled out soon in iOS and Android. Twitter is adding more payment services to Tips, and people can now tip with Bitcoin using Strike – a payments application built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network that allows people to send and receive Bitcoin free and instantly. This feature went live on Thursday.

“We are excited to incorporate cryptocurrency in more of our products. We also see this growing interest among creators to use apps, which run on blockchain to manage goods and virtual currencies. But the truth is many still require technical expertise. We want to help creators participate in the promise of an evolving decentralised internet directly on Twitter,” said Crawford.

Twitter is also exploring NFT authentication. It helps creators making art with a stamp to claim and verify ownership.

Control on replies

Twitter is looking to automate blocking of similar accounts a user had blocked in the past if the Safety Mode is on. Users will also a get a Heads Up, where they will get to know the vibe of the chatroom or heated discussion before entering into it.

Soon, users will be able to remove themselves from conversations and threads they don’t want to be a part of. Additionally, though at a concept stage now, there will be a word filter feature for those who don’t want to filter out unwanted speech in their replies, stopping targeted name calling or emojis.

Twitter is also testing profile labels of automated accounts to check if it is handled by a real person or a bot. The social-media giant will explore more account types such as businesses, brands, and memorialised accounts in the future.

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