Twitter users sent the hashtag #RIPTwitter trending on the social media platform after the service announced plans to charge to see some premium posts.
It will come in the form of a new ‘Super Follows’ feature, a subscription service where users would pay for special content from high profile accounts.
This would be part of a new economic model for the free-to-use short content platform, in an effort to diversify its revenue streams.
Users weren’t happy with the idea, and many turned to memes to express their disgust, including a photo with a picture of Homer Simpson asleep and the caption, “ I sleep peacefully knowing I’m not paying for Twitter. ”
Most users mentioned other features, including an ‘edit’ button, which they would prefer before the service started charging for content.
Users weren’t happy with the idea, and many turned to memes to voice their disgust, including one with a photo of Homer Simpson asleep and the caption ‘I sleep peacefully knowing I’m not paying for Twitter,’ while others asked for an editing function
No timeline was given for when Super Follows could become a feature, but the tech giant is expected to make further announcements later this year.
The globally popular social media platform announced the potential new Super Follows service at its annual investor meeting on Thursday, where it was described as an opportunity for creators and publishers to be supported by their audience.
A spokesperson said it would “encourage them to continue creating content their audience loves.”
Some users laughed at the fact that Twitter is hosting the anger over its own idea on its own platform
But the public doesn’t seem to be open to the idea, with hundreds of users sharing their disgust via humorous posts with the hashtag #RIPTwitter.
A number of users suggested that charging for Tweets would attract a similar audience to OnlyFans, a website that allows people to sell subscriptions to adult content – where users pay to see nude photos.
The majority of users felt that paying for Twitter was not good value for money, suggesting it would go the way of other platforms and become less relevant.
Domie said, “I’m sorry, but nobody’s tweets are so important that I pay for it,” an opinion of some users.
“We are researching and rethinking the incentives of our service – the behaviors that our product features encourage and discourage when people engage in conversations on Twitter,” said the spokesperson.
Neil Lowenthal, a self-proclaimed struggling writer, tweeted that Twitter seemed to care more about squeezing money out of people than giving an edit button. He said he opposes “the idea of charging people for a free platform.”
Twitter, which is currently monetizing ads and promoted posts, has the potential to generate additional revenue through its Super Follows transactions and help it reach its goal of having 315 million ‘monetized’ users by 2023 – up from 192 million last year.
Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi was not convinced people will be inclined to pay for special content on Twitter, saying the model works for YouTube because videos take hours, but a single tweet doesn’t.
Edit button calls were a common theme among users, and many said they wanted to be able to make changes, including correcting typos in a tweet
Twitter is also considering allowing users to join communities dedicated to topics through a feature similar to Facebook’s “ groups. ”
This concept didn’t resonate with users of the platform either, with some claiming that groups are the most toxic part of Facebook.
DrewNYC tweeted, ‘So they take the most toxic part of Facebook, the part that is largely responsible for spreading hate and misinformation on the Internet, and doing it here? Understood. #RIPTwitter ‘
The San Francisco-based company defined users that can be monetized as people who log in and see ads on a daily basis.
Twitter, like Google and Facebook, makes the most money from digital advertisements.
A number of users joked that charging for Tweets would only work if people could charge on the site to see nude photos, similar to OnlyFans
The company said it is targeting $ 7.5 billion in revenues by 2023, more than double the $ 3.7 billion seized last year.
Twitter also plans to double its ‘development speed’, meaning the number of new features it releases per employee, so people are more engaged with the service.
Bruce Falck, Twitter revenue lead product, told analysts the tech company was aware of a potential drop in revenue that could be caused by new privacy labels that Apple is mandating for apps on its mobile devices.
Other users said it would be the end of Twitter as a social media platform, with users moving to alternatives that don’t charge for content
App makers are concerned that the labels will discourage users from allowing the collection of data used to target ads more effectively.
“It’s too early to say exactly how this will affect the industry, but it will be felt throughout the industry,” said Falck, adding that Twitter was innovating to soften the blow.
Twitter’s plan to increase revenues also includes getting more involved in online commerce, which includes allowing people to purchase a product through a tweet.
Social media users desperate for likes ‘have thinking patterns similar to lab RATS looking for food,’ research claims
Users who crave likes on social media may have thinking patterns that are fundamentally similar to those of lab rats looking for food, a study finds.
Researchers from the US and Europe found that efforts to maximize ‘likes’ follow the so-called ‘reward learning’ pattern that also occurs in animals seeking food rewards.
Users who crave likes on social media may have thinking patterns that are fundamentally similar to those of lab rats looking for food, one study has concluded (stock image)
Experts estimate that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram occupied the attention of more than four billion people for several hours a day last year.
While some have likened social media engagement to an addiction, it has remained unclear why some are led to become obsessed with such online platforms.
The new findings, the researchers said, could help experts discover new ways to address problematic social media engagement.
“These results show that social media engagement follows the fundamental, cross-species principles of reward learning,” said New York University author and psychologist David Amodio.
“These findings can help us understand why social media is coming to dominate everyday life for many people.”
The study, he added, may also provide “clues, drawn from research on reward learning and addiction, as to how troubling online engagement can be addressed.”