Are "Super Follows" and subscriptions coming ?: Twitter is testing new functions

Friday, February 26, 2021

Are there any "Super Follows" and subscriptions coming?
Twitter is testing new functions

Short messages are the most important content on Twitter, even if the platform now offers its users other functions. The business model has so far been based exclusively on advertising. That should change now.

Twitter wants to test new functions to keep up with the competition from other platforms. This includes the option of making exclusive content or offers available to paying subscribers. The function should be called "Super Follows". The group is reacting to the increasing popularity of platforms such as Patreon or Substack, where users can support authors or other creative people directly. In new community groups, people should be able to join forces according to their interests. In addition, Twitter wants to give users the opportunity to have aggressive or spam-spreading accounts automatically blocked for them on a trial basis.

In the past few months, Twitter had already introduced new functions such as talk shows under the name "Spaces" and content that disappears automatically under the name "Fleets". Twitter made the new announcements at an investor's day. The service also promised to double its annual turnover to 7.5 billion dollars (6.15 billion euros) by the end of 2023. The number of daily users that the service reaches with its advertising is expected to increase from 192 million to 315 million by then. The goals were well received on the stock exchange: The Twitter share closed on Thursday with a plus of 3.71 percent. Last year Twitter had increased sales by 7.5 percent to 3.7 billion dollars.

Twitter generates almost all of its revenue from advertising. This can be, for example, the possibility of getting tweets with product advertising for money in the timelines of the users. The ads are displayed in the web version and Twitter's own app. That is why the company has switched to only naming the number of users that can be reached with advertising as a relevant variable. The service is also considering subscription business models. According to media reports, a paid version of the Tweetdeck app, which is geared towards professional users, could be introduced.

When presenting the latest quarterly figures, Twitter had already emphasized that the ban on ex-US President Donald Trump from the platform at the beginning of January had not slowed growth. That was feared because Trump was one of the most famous Twitter users with around 80 million subscribers. After the attack by his supporters on the US Capitol and his expressions of sympathy for the attackers, he was permanently banned from Twitter.