Users will now be able to support their favourite profiles on Twitter by tipping them using several payment options including cryptocurrencies, the microblogging site announced in a blog. The followers will have to click on a cash icon next to the Follow button to use the feature, the blog added.
“Twitter takes no cut,” the blog declared explaining that the platform will not charge commissions on payments facilitated via Tips.
The service will be rolled out on iOS initially and Android users will be able to access it in the next few weeks, the social media platform said. It is yet to divulge its plans for introducing Tips to users of its web application. Users have to be 18 or older to avail this feature.
Twitter has been rolling out several new features of late as it tries to increase engagement on its platform. It has been keen to help creators monetise their tweets. Tips could be that conduit between content creators and their followers. This is also the first time that a major social media platform has acknowledged cryptocurrencies and listed them as a payments option.
Which services will facilitate the payments?
Twitter has said that users can send tips via these platforms:
- Bandcamp
- Cash App
- Chipper
- Patreon
- Razorpay
- Wealthsimple Cash
- Venmo
Twitter also announced that it has added GoFundMe, an online fundraising platform, and PicPay, a Brazilian mobile payments platform, to the list.
Bitcoin’s moment in the sun
Users will also be able to tip the accounts they want to support via Bitcoin. They will have to download Strike which is a payments application built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Strike is available to people in El Salvador and the U.S. (excluding Hawaii and New York), Twitter revealed.
“Digital currencies that encourage more people to participate in the economy and help people send each other money across borders and with as little friction as possible – help us get there,” Twitter explained on its blog.
Users can also simply add their Bitcoin address which can be used by followers to send the currency by pasting that address in a Bitcoin wallet of their choice.
What are the other features Twitter has announced recently?
Twitter has added or is considering the following new features to its platform:
- Communities: Twitter said it is testing Communities, a feature similar to Facebook Groups and Reddit subreddits that lets users find and tweet to people with similar interests.
- Ticketed Spaces: Handpicked users will be able to create paid gatherings on Twitter’s audio chat room feature, Spaces. The company opened up applications for content monetisation on Spaces in June. It is experimenting with the feature on iOS for now but hopes to bring it to all users soon.
- Super Follow: The company launched its paid subscription feature called ‘Super Follow’ last month. It said that the feature will at present only be available to iOS users in the US and Canada, although it will expand to iOS, Android, and web users worldwide over time.
- Emoji reactions for tweets: The feature will provide emoji reactions for tweets that go beyond a “Like” reaction. The feature will initially be available to users in Turkey.
- Full-width photos and videos: It is testing edge-to-edge media in tweets on iOS to give users a borderless view for photos and videos on their timelines.
- Labels for misleading tweets: The platform rolled out a feature in the United States, South Korea, and Australia, where users will be able to flag tweets that come across as misleading in August 2021. It introduced labels such as manipulated media and synthetic media first in February 2020.
- Birdwatch: Twitter tested a tool called “Birdwatch” in January this year which lets users identify the information they believe is false or misleading. The users write notes about tweets they consider untrue or that may contain misinformation.
The social media platform is also working on a label to memorialise people after their demise, a feature that is scheduled to be available this year, according to The Verge. Twitter also had to discontinue Fleets as the platform did not witness “an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like it had hoped”.
Also read:
- Twitter Is ‘Improving’ How It Labels Misleading 5G And Coronavirus Content, After Mislabelling Unrelated Tweets
- Twitter is going after Facebook Groups with new Communities feature
- Twitter Tests Feature To Prompt Users To Read Articles Before Retweeting Them
- Twitter’s new Super Follow feature allows paid subscriptions: Here’s how to know if you’re eligible
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