The week would not be complete without a headline or two from Elon Musk-owned Twitter. Tuesday Elon Musk said Twitter would give content creators access to the email address of their subscribers, so they could “take” their audience with them if they leave the platform. The caveat is that the subscribers must have opted in for their email addresses to be shared.
This is one of the ways that Musk is trying to make the social media platform more versatile and attractive to content creators, says Forbes. Some of the new features require a Twitter Blue subscription:
- 10,000-character limit for tweets. This is available only to Twitter Blue subscribers. Everyone else has a 280-character limit on their tweets.
- Edit tweet. For up to an hour, Twitter users can make a limited number of changes to published tweets.
- Undo tweet. Users can undo a tweet before it is visible to people who follow them.
- Reduced ads. Twitter Blue subscribers see about 50% fewer ads in the For You and Following timelines.
- Longer video uploads: Twitter Blue subscribers can upload videos that are up to two hours long with a maximum file size of 8GB (1080p). This is only available at Twitter.com and for iOS users.
In the US, Twitter Blue is $11 a month or $114.99 a year for iOS and Android users and $8 a month or $84 a year for Twitter accessed on the web.
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As Forbes points out, other platforms already have similar flexibility. On Patreon, for example, creators have access to the user names, email addresses and membership levels of their patrons. This is not necessarily personally identifiable information if someone chooses not to use their real name or a generic email address. Someone could use a nondescript user name and email address if they wished to remain anonymous.
In Substack’s writer FAQs, they say that writers “will always own” their readers’ email addresses and can export them at any time. YouTube also allows creators to collect email addresses from their subscribers. In a video by Tim Schmoyer of Video Creators and Amy Schmittauer of Savvy Sexy Social, they explain they can’t control the platforms they use, and not every type of content is appropriate for every platform, so it is good to have a direct line of communication with their subscribers. Email is a great way to accomplish this.
The lesson here is that if a user subscribes to a service, a portion of their personal data may be shared with the subscription company and the creators they support, so users should be sure to read terms and conditions before signing up for a service.
Insider Take
The question here is will Musk really offer this feature. Musk says a lot of things, and only follows through on some of them. He has also said that Twitter could possibly become a rival to Twitch. Musk seems to be committed to Twitter Blue as a subscription revenue stream, and making it more attractive to creators is a no brainer. However, it seems to go against Musk’s desire to be all things to all people. If Musk wants creators and their subscribers to stay on Twitter, why would he make it easier to leave? Who knows?!! We’ll share more details as we learn more.
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