Without question the greatest thing about Twitter, whether you come across the best tweet ever or the worst, is that the site is free. Sure, we might waste way too much time on the social media platform. But at least we don’t pay hard cash for all that doom-scrolling.
So of course the company is making a major change to that policy. Twitter is implementing a new feature that will let you charge subscribers for your tweets. But while we doubt we’ll ever pay anyone for their tweets, two other new options actually sound pretty good.
Twitter
Twitter announced today (in news we first heard at The Verge) that it is adding a paid “Super Follows” feature. This would appear to be the paid tier structure the company told investors about last summer. Users will soon be able to charge followers a fee for access to exclusive content. That could include special tweets, a bonus badge that shows your support, or even a newsletter. While Twitter hasn’t released all of the specifics—like how much users will be able to charge or how much of a cut the company might take—they did provide a screen shot of what the feature will look like. It shows a price of $4.99.
“Super Follows” will also allow bonus access for another addition to the platform. Twitter also announced a new “Communities” feature. Subscribers will be able to join groups that share a common interest. Whether that’s a love of cute pets, political causes, or a refusal to pay for tweets.
Twitter
But the best new addition to the platform could be Twitter’s new “Safety Mode.” According to The Verge, it will let users automatically block and mute abusive accounts. Any subscribers who are using foul or insulting language will be flagged by Twitter. With “Safety Mode,” you won’t even have to see their posts to know they are worthy of being ignored.
Whether or not this minimizes the pervasive abuse on the site remains to be seen. But even if it doesn’t, not having to encounter any in the first place should help improve the experience for others.
Twitter
The funny thing is, this feature will apparently be free. We’re not sure we’ll pay to see anyone’s tweets; but we definitely might pay not to see others.