Twitter Super Follows & Communities

Yesterday on Twitter #RIPTwitter was trending - this was reaction to news that Twitter are planning to introduce the option for users to charge their followers to see extra/additional tweets.

One of the reasons I decided to write this blog post is that I have seen a lot of negativity, and wanted to look at some of the potential positive aspects of these new additions to Twitter.

Some of the reactions suggest that Twitter is going to charge everyone to use their service or read any tweet going further - which is simply not the case. Its a new addition - on top of what is already on Twitter.

You'll still be able to see all the cat photos, tweets from people who love Cookie Monster, photos of the beach and photos of cakes!

Twitter as it is at the moment will still exist, nobody will find themselves locked out of their profiles because they haven't paid - all that is happening is users will have the option to charge to see extra/exclusive content.

Its also worth remembering that Twitter does charge for "promoted tweets"/paid advertising - and has done so for many years. Its not the first time Twitter has features that users pay for.

Twitter are also planning to introduce group-like features. Groups on Facebook are extremely popular, and while I'm not a fan of social networking websites copying each other, it will be interesting to see how Twitter implements this.

Twitter already has lists - so I do wonder (and this is just speculation!) if groups/communities perhaps will extend on this (e.g. groups being more interactive, whereas lists are only managed by one person).

While I will wait and see how this will be implemented, and its not something I'm likely to use myself, I can see advantages to both new features.

Here are some advantages (and as there are some overlaps between the Super Follows and Communities features I will include a single list of advantages - even though some items will only apply to one or the other)...

• Charities can have a platform for members of the public to donate, with the option to see exclusive content or news.
• Groups also offer charities to tweet content exclusively for them - particularly where info may be of a more sensitive nature or only relevant to members - rather then being visible on their public timeline.
• Authors could charge for their fans to see exclusive content - e.g. business book authors could share exclusive tips, cooks could tweet exclusive recipe and cooking tips, etc.
• Software users can join exclusive support groups for that software product to receive help from the developer.
• Twitter hours, tweetalongs to TV shows, etc. could possibly be moved to groups so people who follow accounts and not interested in actual hours not flooded with tweets.
• Also potential for Twitter hours to have "paid supporters" - with exclusive Twitter hours, etc.
• Local Twitter hours could set up groups to ensure their hours remain exclusively for people in local area, etc.
• Political discussions, debates and arguments could be hidden away in groups rather then publicly visible.
• News providers can receive extra income and charge readers for seeing exclusive news content.

Are there any other potential uses to Super Followers (paid tweets) or Communties/groups that you can add to the above list?

Hopefully it won't just be big businesses that can make use of Super Followers or Communities - it will be the smaller sole trader/home based businesses - and while it won't be for everyone, I hope the above list has shown the potential for smaller businesses (and charities) to bring in extra income from these new additions to Twitter.

Some of the reports suggest that a donate/tip user/buy coffee style feature is also being considered - ideal for charities, and also creatives and bloggers that provide free content, etc. who don't normally profit from their Twitter activities.

Everyone has bills to pay - and if these new features bring in a little bit extra income - then that can be a positive thing.

(Although it will also be interesting to see how much Twitter allows people to charge, how much of a cut Twitter will take, etc. - definitely a case of wait and see for that one!)

Yes there is potential that some Twitter users will go overboard, feature may be misused by some, etc. - but chances are you probably wouldn't want to follow these people anyway - paid or otherwise.

Disclaimer - I'm not a social media expert. I use Twitter for my business - I have clients and contacts that use Twitter - so this blog post is based on what works rather then claiming any expertise! A lot of this is also based on speculation, since the features are not yet available - and looking at the potential and possibilities they may bring.

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