It has been fifteen years since the first tweet, and Twitter continues to be one of the top social media platforms to date.
Known for delivering quick, bite-sized updates and trending content in real-time, Twitter has found use in news, customer service, and social listening.
Last February, Twitter shared its plans for the company and upcoming features during its annual virtual investor’s event. Among the new Twitter features being launched in 2021 are subscription content, audio content (via Twitter Spaces), and new profile types.
If you want to know what these and other features are about, keep reading:
Final Thoughts: 2021 Updates — New Twitter Features and News
New Twitter Features
- Super Follow
- Professional Profiles
- Twitter Spaces
- Twitter Blue
- Tip Jar
- Communities
- E-commerce functionality
- Fleet Ads
- Subscribe Button
- Birdwatch
1. Super Follow
Following the success of Patreon and YouTube, Super Follow is a new Twitter feature focusing on pay-for-posts.
Super Follow will enable Twitter users to charge followers for extra content. That includes:
- Bonus tweets
- Access to a community
- Subscription content
Twitter sees this as a direct way for subscribers to support their favorite content creators and its top users to continue patronizing the platform.
2. Professional Profiles
Twitter is also aiming to expand its “taxonomy of account types” by rolling out Professional Profiles.
Introduced during Twitter’s Analyst day in February 2021, Professional Profiles is a new tool that will enable businesses, non-profits, and creators to display specific information about their business on their profile.
With Professional Profiles’ new Twitter features, users can provide profile visitors with relevant information about their business. That includes but is not limited to:
- Location
- Address
- Opening and close times
- Product listings
- Image galleries
3. Twitter Spaces
With the popularity of podcasts and audio content, Twitter is also planning to join the audio space with Spaces, a counterpart to the invite-only voice chat app Clubhouse.
Twitter released the beta version of Twitter Spaces in December 2020.
In early 2021, Twitter acquired Breaker, a podcast listening app it may use to build Spaces. Breaker makes the most sense for Twitter because it has social features such as likes, comments, and a feed.
Here are some of the new Twitter features for Spaces that are in development:
- Ticketed Spaces, where users can host paid live audio chats. It is only available to U.S. users 18 years old or older with at least 1,000 followers.
- Co-hosting with another Twitter Spaces user.
- Better accessibility for Twitter Spaces, courtesy of live captions and labels.
Twitter Spaces is available to accounts with 600+ followers.
4. Twitter Blue
Twitter Blue is one of Twitter’s latest roll-outs.
It is the company’s first-ever subscription offering. It is currently undergoing testing in Australia and Canada.
Those who subscribe to Twitter Blue will get the following perks:
- Undo Tweets. The next best thing to an edit button — Twitter’s Undo button lets you modify an already-sent tweet within 30 seconds of sending it.
- Reader view. The new reader view eliminates distractions to provide users with a better reading experience for long threads.
- Folders to bookmark and save content.
- Customized app icons and fun color themes to personalize the look of your profile.
Twitter Blue subscriptions start at CA$3.49 or AU$4.49 per month.
5. Tip Jar
Do you want a way to show appreciation for your favorite creator? Now you can do so with Tip Jar.
Tip Jar is a new Twitter feature available exclusively on the iPhone and Android Twitter apps that lets users send money to their favorite Twitter accounts. In addition, Android users can also send money to creators they follow on Twitter Spaces.
To send money to an account, tap on the dollar bill icon next to the Follow button on their profile. Users can choose to toggle this feature on and off.
Twitter supports payment methods like Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, and Venmo without taking a cut from the tips you receive.
As of writing, the service is available for users using Twitter in English.
6. Communities
Another new Twitter feature the company is working on is Communities. An extension of Twitter’s existing “Topics” and similar to Facebook Groups, Communities empowers users to create hubs based on shared interests and locations.
Expect the roll-out of Communities in the second half of 2021.
7. E-commerce Functionality
With the boom of e-commerce, social media websites are looking for ways to add e-commerce functionalities to posts.
Twitter teased a few of its new e-commerce features in development, including a new e-commerce Twitter card type that adds a “Shop” call-to-action button that links to a transaction page.
However, do not expect e-commerce features to come anytime soon. Twitter’s current priority is rebuilding its Mobile Application Promotion (MAP) feature, so it will be a while before it moves to e-commerce.
8. Fleet Ads
After launching Fleets in November 2020, Twitter announced in June 2021 that it would be testing Fleet Ads in the United States. Fleets are Twitter’s version of ephemeral content.
The platform will offer full-screen vertical ads, competing with vertical ads on other social networks like Instagram and TikTok.
Fleets support both 9:16 format photos and videos, and the latter can be up to 30 seconds in length — shorter than the maximum length of Instagram (120 seconds) and TikTok (60 seconds).
Twitter is rolling out the pilot testing program in the U.S. to 10 businesses to test how well these types of ads perform.
9. Subscribe Button
In line with its plan to maximize creator monetization tools, Twitter announced a “Subscribe” button for newsletter creators. The button links back to Twitter’s newly acquired Revue platform.
10. Birdwatch
While looking for ways to outsource information fact-checking, Twitter came up with Birdwatch.
In a series of tweets, Twitter announced it was starting the roll-out of Birdwatch to a few iOS, Android, and desktop users.
Birdwatch, launched in January 2021, lets users flag misleading tweets and add notes to explain why they were flagged. Users can also rate whether the feedback provided by other contributors was helpful or not on the Birdwatch website.
Twitter’s efforts to combat fake news and misinformation are evident in testing its new variable labeling system. Twitter intends to add this new feature to the app itself, and it will use these labels to ensure people get information from reliable sources:
- Get the latest: This alert applies to ongoing news topics like electoral updates. In addition, Twitter will only provide information from official sources.
- Stay informed: This alert is best for ongoing news story (e.g., the pandemic) updates but can also be used for evolving news stories.
- Misleading: This alert warns users about questionable claims while providing links to authoritative sources.
Specific keywords based on Twitter’s existing fact-checking processes will trigger the system’s alerts.
2021 Twitter News
There’s even more Twitter news. Here’s what’s happening:
Acquisition of Scroll
In May 2021, Twitter acquired the subscription service Scroll, which provides users a distraction-free way to read long-form content by removing ads that can slow down the experience.
Twitter’s acquisition of Scroll supports its Twitter Blue subscription offerings. A portion of its subscription revenue also goes to the content creators.
Final Thoughts: 2021 Updates — New Twitter Features and News
From moving towards reducing sole reliance on ad revenue by incentivizing exclusive content through Twitter Spaces, Super Follow, and Communities; combating misinformation through Birdwatch; new acquisitions, and subscription offerings; to exploring e-commerce and ephemeral content, 2021 is looking to be an exciting year for the platform, thanks to all these new Twitter features.
What do you think about the new Twitter features? Let Bluehost know in the comments below.
