Twitter Moments will soon open up to more creators, rolling out to brands, partners, influencers and eventually everyone in the coming months.
When Twitter Moments launched back in October 2015 as a curated news slideshow to facilitate access to the best tweets, the feature stirred plenty of interest but ultimately failed to generate the huge impact Twitter likely expected.
That may well change soon, however, when Twitter Moments opens to more users. So far, the collections of tweets that make up Twitter Moments have been curated by Twitter itself, as well as a handful of publishers the company partnered with. A wider rollout would allow more users to get into the game, likely boosting the popularity of Twitter Moments overall.
Twitter says it always planned to "open up this creative canvas to more people," expanding beyond its own curation team and publishing partners. The company will gradually open up Moments to a larger set of creators, ultimately aiming to reach all Twitter users.
"By extending this creative format to more people, and eventually to everyone on Twitter, we are giving people a new and dynamic way to tell their stories," says the company.
Steve Babcock, the chief creative officer or VaynerMedia, and DeRay Mckesson, a civil rights activist, are among the new Moments creators who praise the opportunity to create and curate Tweets to get a real sense of how people consume content. More creators will join the fray down the line, further widening the horizons of Twitter Moments.
"We love seeing people express themselves creatively on Twitter every day and we're excited to see how new creators will tell their stories using Moments," adds Twitter.
While many people may not use Twitter Moments for now, they may be more excited by the prospect if they're actually part of it, and they may even share the Moments they created within their own networks, drawing more people in. Tapping into the creativity of the masses may be just what Twitter needs to get its Moments off the ground and make it viral.
It remains to be seen whether turning Twitter Moments into an open platform will be a hit, but it does seem like the best course of action at this point. If more opportunities arise, Twitter may even start sharing revenue with creators, similar to how Tumblr is promising to pay bloggers who agree to host ads.
New Twitter Moments creators will get a new tab on their Twitter profile on the web so that the Moments platform gets extra visibility, listing the Moments they've made. The top Moments could make it into the Moments tabs under various categories, albeit Twitter doesn't seem too invested in integrating Moments deeper into the core Twitter experience.
Other than the vague "in the coming months" time frame, no other details are available as to when Twitter Moments will reach all users. As always, we'll keep an eye out and keep you up to date as soon as we learn more, so stay tuned.
