Called “Twitter Blue,” the new subscription is available for users in the US and New Zealand accessing the platform through iOS and Android devices as well as the web. It costs $2.99 per month and was already rolled out in June to users in Australia and Canada. “We’ve been listening to and learning from the most passionate and vocal people on Twitter as to what will make their experience more customizable, more frictionless, and simply put – better. We’re invigorated by the feedback we’ve received so far,” Twitter’s Sara Beykpour and Smita Gupta explained in a blog post. “The work continues and there’s a lot more to build, but in the meantime here’s the latest look inside Twitter Blue.” With Twitter Blue, users will have access to a feature called “Undo Tweet,” which allows you to preview a tweet for one minute before it is sent out. The subscription service also makes the experience on the social media platform more customizable. Users will be able to have an ad-free experience on articles visited through Twitter at news outlets like the Washington Post, L.A. Times, USA TODAY, The Atlantic, Reuters, The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed, Insider, and The Hollywood Reporter. Beykpour and Gupta noted that Twitter is seeking out even more partnerships to expand the ad-free feature to other sites. They noted that a “portion” of the revenue gained from Twitter Blue subscription fees will go directly to publishers in Twitter’s “network.” “Our goal is to help each publishing partner make 50% more per person than they would’ve made from serving ads to that person. A better experience for readers – and more support for the journalism they care about,” they said. The “Reader” feature makes it simpler to read lengthy threads and the text size can even be changed. Twitter added that Blue users will be able to see which articles have been shared the most within their network over a 24-hour period and will have the choice to customize their experience through “app icons and colorful themes and Bookmark Folders.” Users of the service can even customize what shows up on their navigation bar. Twitter Blue subscribers will be given exclusive access to new features being tested by the platform, including ones that may never make it to the regular platform. “They will change often, but for now, subscribers will be able to upload videos of up to 10-minutes (as opposed to the standard ~2 minutes for non-subscribers) via Longer Video Uploads and pin their favorite conversations to the top of their DM’s with Pinned Conversations,” Beykpour and Gupta explained. After examining the responses from the initial users of Twitter Blue, the platform found that subscribers loved the ability to customize and tailor their experience on Twitter as well as the chance “to review their Tweets before they go out in the wild.” “We also learned they want even more customization, exclusive first-looks, and the ability to make their Twitter experience more functional. And we’re building towards exactly that. With Twitter Blue, we are not only bringing the most active people on Twitter more of what they want, but we’re also supporting local, national, and ad-free journalism in a more direct way,” Beykpour and Gupta said. For those interested in Twitter Blue, go to Twitter’s main menu, tap “Twitter Blue”, then tap “Subscribe.” Right now, Twitter makes most of its revenue from advertising, but it has faced increasing pressure from Wall Street over the years to find additional sources of income. In Q3, Twitter’s ad revenue climbed 41% year over year to $1.14 billion. For years, Twitter has explored a variety of options meant to help the company expand its user base and increase its revenue. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission back in February, Twitter said it aims to “double development velocity by the end of 2023, which means doubling the number of features shipped per employee that directly drive either mDAU [monetizable daily active usage or users] or revenue.” Twitter’s goal is to reach at least 315 million mDAU in Q4 2023, which represents about a 20 percent compound annual growth rate from the base of 152 million mDAU reported in Q4 2019. The company wants to at least double total annual revenue from $3.7 billion in 2020 to $7.5 billion or more in 2023.
