Twitter Testing $99 Subscription Service Automatically Promoting Your Tweets

Twitter has just launched a beta subscription service to a select group of members designed to increase engagement and revenue, both of which the company needs. Like many organizations in the Membership Economy, they have built a loyal and engaged community mostly through free memberships, subsidized by advertising. A freemium model in which some members pay for special benefits while others enjoy free subscriptions could be a solution to their recent challenges.

According to last Thursday's second quarter announcement, Twitter's user base is on the decline, down from 70M in Q1 to 68M in Q2. Even the steady stream of tweets from the White House isn't enough to drive membership.

Subscribers will enjoy unlimited promoted tweets for a fixed monthly fee of $99. The beta, which is currently available by invitation only, automatically promotes all member tweets. There is no need for the member to create ads or even to designate which tweets to include, resulting in a frictionless experience.

Twitter hopes that the relatively low price and ease of use will appeal to both established brands and individual power users of the social network. The company needs to rebuild confidence on Wall Street after disappointing investors with a decline in both members and advertising revenue.

But this move is likely to lead to a dramatic increase in promoted tweets--just imagine if the most prolific tweeters now had all of their tweets prioritized over everyone else's. It would change the user experience. Your feed will likely feel more sales-y and less authentic and news-y. And you might have trouble finding and seeing the tweets about which you care most.

Twitter has built a community of individuals sharing timely updates and information on all sorts of subjects. Part of the beauty of the community is its democratic nature. They will need to tread carefully with their new subscription offering if they want to maintain its status as trustworthy source of direct, unmediated information. #linkedinlearning #subscription

Robbie Kellman Baxter is the founder of Peninsula Strategies LLC, author of The Membership Economy, and  and a LinkedIn Learning course author. Check out her courses: Create a Membership-Based Business and Develop a Service Orientation

Her clients have included large organizations like Netflix, SurveyMonkey, and the National Restaurant Association, as well as smaller venture-backed start-ups. Over the course of her career, Robbie has worked in or consulted with clients in more than 20 industries.

As a public speaker, Robbie has presented to thousands of people in corporations, associations, and universities. She has an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Find Robbie on Twitter, @robbiebax.