Twitter is launching a “super follower” offer in the hope of gaining independence from advertisers and expanding its audience.
The social network Twitter has just launched paid subscriptions. The platform obviously remains free for users, but some may decide to become “super followers” by subscribing for 3, 5, or 10 euros to influencer accounts. Thanks to this subscription, users will be able to benefit from exclusive content from the influencer, but not only. According to Esther Crawford, product director at Twitter, “super followers” will also be able to “participate in conversations that only other paying subscribers have access to”. The feature is debuting in the US and Canada, for a limited group of creators.
This isn’t Twitter’s first paid offering. In May, the platform launched “Tip Jar” which allows tipping accounts. Since June, the social network has also offered Canadian and Australian users a $3.50 per month subscription, which offers new features such as categorizing tweets, a “read” mode and a “cancel” button to view tweets before final sending and to modify them.
Gain independence from advertising revenue
Twitter is not the first platform to launch this kind of functionality. Since 2018, the video and audio streaming platform YouTube has also launched several paid subscriptions. Just like on Twitter, some subscriptions allow you to have more features on the application (Youtube Premium). There is also the possibility of subscribing by paying for an account to have exclusive content (Channel Membership).
It’s hard to understand why these Big Tech giants, who built their empire on free, now decide to offer paid offers on their platforms. The fact is that their income is partly based on advertising income, income which is therefore not stable. By offering these subscriptions, this allows them a safe and known return of money. Indeed, some advertisers today are reluctant to go through these platforms, for fear of being associated with videos that may be controversial. For example, the Guardian newspaper noticed that its advertising campaigns were offered on videos of white supremacists.
Attract content creators
But it is not only for fear of seeing advertisers leave that these platforms are trying their luck in paying. The fact is that today their success is mainly based on content creators who bring platforms to life by bringing in traffic, which therefore attracts advertisers. Problem, content creators are starting to stick their tongues out. To be able to monetize their audience – thanks to advertising revenue – they are forced to post more and more, and at a frantic pace. Not to mention the pressure from these same advertisers who want ever smoother content, which leads to censorship and demonetization – especially from YouTube and its algorithm.
Many creators already use other platforms to earn money directly from their followers, such as the Patreon platform – which paid out $1 billion in 2020 to content creators. But here, the goal is to simplify the process and allow creators to more easily monetize their audience, while worrying less about censorship issues that lead to the demonetization of their content. Basically, keep them at home as long as possible to be able to benefit from the income they generate.
Marine Andrieu
The social network Twitter has just launched paid subscriptions. The platform obviously remains free for users, but some may decide to become “super followers” by subscribing for 3, 5, or 10 euros to influencer accounts. Thanks to this subscription, users will be able to benefit from exclusive content from the influencer, but not only. According to Esther Crawford, product director at Twitter, “super followers” will also be able to “participate in conversations that only other paying subscribers have access to”. The feature is debuting in the US and Canada, for a limited group of creators and creators. This isn’t Twitter’s first paid offering. In May, the platform launched “Tip Jar” which allows tipping accounts. Since June, the social network has also offered Canadian and Australian users a $3.50 per month subscription, which offers new features such as categorizing tweets, a “read” mode and a “cancel” button to view tweets before final sending and to modify them. Gaining independence from advertising revenue Twitter is not the first platform to launch this kind of functionality. Since 2018, the video and audio streaming platform YouTube has also launched several paid subscriptions. Just like on Twitter, some subscriptions allow you to have more features on the application (Youtube Premium). There is also the possibility of subscribing by paying for an account to have exclusive content (Channel Membership). It is difficult to understand why these Big Tech giants, who built their empire on free access, decide today to offer paid offers on their platforms. The fact is that their income is partly based on advertising income, income which is therefore not stable. By offering these subscriptions, this allows them a safe and known return of money. Indeed, some advertisers today are reluctant to go through these platforms, for fear of being associated with videos that may be controversial. For example, the Guardian newspaper had noticed that its advertising campaigns were offered on videos of white supremacists. Attracting content creators But it is not only for fear of seeing advertisers leave that these platforms are trying their luck in the paying. The fact is that today their success is mainly based on content creators who bring platforms to life by bringing in traffic, which therefore attracts advertisers. Problem, content creators are starting to stick their tongues out. To be able to monetize their audience – thanks to advertising revenue – they are forced to post more and more, and at a frantic pace. Not to mention the pressure from these same advertisers who want ever smoother content, which leads to censorship and demonetization – especially from YouTube and its algorithm. Many creators are already going through other platforms to earn money. directly from their subscribers, such as the Patreon platform – which paid out $1 billion in 2020 to content creators. But here, the goal is to simplify the process and allow creators to more easily monetize their audience, while worrying less about censorship issues that lead to the demonetization of their content. Basically, keep them at home as long as possible to benefit from the income they generate. Marine Andrieu
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