Creative Economy

Twitter becomes a paying service – what is the super follow?

Twitter is diversifying into paid content. The blue bird intends to monetize its audience by offering certain influencers to "privatize" part of their content. A test phase is underway in Canada and the USA. A question arises, why pay for something free?

06 Sep 2021 - 2 min read

Hey You,

Twitter is showing ingenuity and intends to find new monetization levers. The latest: a subscription service between users inspired by the leaders of the creative economy: Patreon, MYM or Onlyfans. As we know, the business model of Jack Dosey’s social network is always looking for new ways to finance itself, even if it means abandoning its founding principles… “Twitter is a microblogging social network managed by the company Twitter Inc. It allows a user to send free micro-messages, called tweets, on the Internet, by instant messaging or by SMS. These messages are limited to 280 characters.”  

If the new format called “Super Follow” is still in a test phase, it already raises many questions. 

The end of free Twitter?

A post on the Twitter blog, published on September 1, revealed the launch of the “Super Follows” feature. 

For now, only iOS users based in the US and Canada have access to the new feature. Leading the charge is renowned app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who has posted numerous tweets on the subject. 

The Super Follow allows selected users to monetize private content, which is only accessible if the user pays. The subscription price varies from $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99 each month. 

The famous social network has just started a test phase and for the moment, this new feature is only available to a few hand-picked Canadian and American influencers. 

If the feature is retained, Twitter will have to intensify the control of content published by third parties on its site: sensitive content, nudity, pornographic content …. Otherwise, the blue bird could also find itself obliged to suspend this service, following the example of OnlyFans, which had announced – before retracting – its intention to ban sexually explicit content. The other question raised by the super follow is simply its interest: why pay for something to which all subscribers will have access? 

How does the super follow work? 

The operation of the Super Follow is rather simple, you just have to go to the Twitter profile of the creator you want to follow. The Tweetos is then redirected to another page that will list the services offered by the influencer (the different offers and rates as well as the type of service). The user then selects the subscription he wants and can access the payment directly in the application through Stripe (a payment application) 

Twitter become a paying service – “super follow”

Twitter become a paying service – The “super follow” button

A Super Follow button appears on the profiles of some users. ©Twitter

Once the subscription is done, the private content appears directly in the Feed with a label stating that it is a Super Follows content.  If the user wants, he can unsubscribe relatively easily from the App Store: unsubscribe. 

Twitter, the new private social network?  

The arrival of the Super Follows at Twitter is a strong signal for the social network industry: it will help build loyalty among creators on the platform and diversify the type of content offered on the feeds. 

A great opportunity for influencers, but a paradigm shift for mainstream social networks, which until now have always remained free, as evidenced by Facebook’s motto “It’s free and it will always be free”. 

For now, Super Follow is in a test phase.  Depending on the feedback from users, the platform will study the possibility of expanding and enriching its offer.

In the meantime, you can already ask yourself this question: are you ready to pay to access private content?