As tough competition threatens Twitter’s top position in the tech world, the social media platform is introducing new features to retain what’s left of its user base.
Twitter has announced that it will be sharing advertising revenue with select content creators on its platform. Verified users who meet specific criteria will be eligible to receive a portion of the ad revenue generated from ads displayed in their replies. To qualify, creators must have at least 5 million impressions on their posts in each of the last 3 months and possess a Stripe payment account.
Twitter just paid me almost $25,000. pic.twitter.com/oIJ2Ycymzb
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) July 13, 2023
Currently, the monetization program is only available to users who pay for a Twitter Blue subscription, and the ads appear in replies to tweets. Initial payout amounts have ranged from a few thousand dollars to nearly $40,000 for accounts with millions of followers. Twitter has mentioned that it plans to expand eligibility to more creators later this month. Earlier this year, the company introduced paid subscriptions, allowing users to monetize their content. Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter last year, has stated that the company will pass on the entire subscription revenue to creators in the first year, excluding payment gateway charges.
Twitter’s decision to monetize ads served in tweet replies is primarily because of the challenge of determining which creators they should pay for ads displayed in the main feed. This is a problem that many short-form video platforms like TikTok face as well. By focusing on monetizing replies, Twitter can more easily attribute the revenue generated from ads to specific creators. But this approach could incentivize creators to encourage users to reply to their tweets in order to maximize their earning potential. While this can lead to genuine conversations and interactions, it also opens the door for manipulation. On platforms like Facebook, content that triggers extreme emotions tends to generate the highest engagement.
This move comes at a crucial time, as the text-based social media app struggles to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the tech world. In June, the company’s ad sales plunged 59 per cent according to the New York Times, and Twitter’s value dropped 66 per cent under Elon Musk’s erratic leadership.
Musk also recently announced limitations on the number of tweets users can read, citing concerns over data scraping and system manipulation. It’s an interesting strategy for a company heavily reliant on advertising revenue.
As users become more frustrated with the platform thanks to Elon putting a paywall behind most of its prominent features – many are flocking to copycat apps like Mastadon, Bluesky and most recently Meta’s Threads. The micro-blogging app developed by Meta Platforms has been making waves in the social media landscape since its launch and many have dubbed it the ‘Twitter Killer’. The app amassed 100 million users in less than a week, becoming the fastest-growing online platform in history.
Meanwhile, as Twitter pays out $5 million to creators the company currently faces a lawsuit over $500 million in unpaid severance checks for employees who were laid off during Elon Musk’s acquisition.
