Twitter has on April 28 announced the worldwide rollout of its 'Subscriptions' feature, that lets people subscribe to individual accounts, as the Elon Musk-owned social media firm looks to woo creators onto its platform.
Subscriptions is a rebranded version of the company's earlier Super Follows feature that was introduced in 2021 and was available only in certain markets such as the United States.
It is separate from the social media firm's subscription service Twitter Blue that gives users an option to buy a verified blue checkmark along with a host of features like the ability to edit tweets, post long tweets of up to 4,000 characters and lesser ads among others.
With Subscriptions, creators can charge people to provide access to exclusive tweets across text, images and long-form videos, special badges and subscriber-only live audio sessions through Twitter Spaces. They will also have a dedicated tab on their notifications timeline that will only show activity from their subscribers.
In the future, Twitter states that it hopes to include "newsletters and other Twitter features as potential bonus content"
Read: Doge in, Larry Bird out: How Elon Musk is reshaping Twitter
Who can apply?
Creators who are Twitter Blue subscribers, have at least 500 followers, posted a minimum of 25 tweets in the past 30 days and are at least 18 years of age, will be eligible to apply to participate in this programme.
To enable subscriptions, one can head over to the professional tools section on the main menu, choose the monetisation option and select subscriptions to submit an application.
Creators will be able to set a monthly subscription price by choosing one of the price points made available by Twitter, however they won't be able to change the selected price point at this moment.
On its website, the company notes that it plans to offer the ability to change subscription prices in the future. Users will be able to buy these individual subscriptions on iOS, Android and web.
Twitter states that creators will be able to earn 97 percent of the revenue the company makes from subscriptions after paying the in-app commission fee levied by Apple (30 percent) and Google (15 percent) until they reach $50,000 in lifetime earnings. Following that, the revenue share reduces to 80 percent.
For subscriptions bought through the web, creator payouts will be higher since Twitter does not need to pay the in-app commission fee.
Twitter will not take a cut of these revenues for the first 12 months, after which the social media firm will take a 10 percent fee, Musk said on April 29. However, he noted that Apple's subscription fee reduces from 30 percent to 15 percent after the first year, thereby terming it as a "net gain to creators". Google charges a flat 15 percent fee irrespective of the subscription period.
Diversifying revenue
These moves come as Twitter looks to diversify its revenue sources beyond advertising that has taken a major hit amid the continued slowdown in the digital advertising market and the multiple changes Musk has made to how the company operates since the $44-billion acquisition in October 2022.
Earlier this month, Musk claimed that most of the advertisers who had left the platform after acquisition have either come back or said they are coming back, apart from a few exceptions. He also touted increased usage and decent growth on the platform in the past few months, without disclosing any specifics.
Musk also claimed that the company is now “roughly break-even” and will likely be cash flow positive this quarter.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
