Twitter has rolled out a new subscription service in the United States and New Zealand on Nov. 9. The new service will let people pay for features like undo a tweet and read ad-free news articles.
Twitter's New Service
Twitter's paid version, Twitter Blue, costs $3 or 4.49 NZD monthly. In June, the company began testing its service in Canada and Australia, according to CNET.
The move shows how Twitter is experimenting with new ways to monetize the platform outside of ads and is slowly increasing its focus on news-related products.
Twitter's senior director of product management, Sara Beykpour, said that the subscription service targets those who use the site that is often mainly on mobile devices are early adopters of new features or news junkies.
Beykpour said that Twitter will always be free. Twitter Blue gives the most engaged and leaned-in users on the platform more ways to customize and control their experience and get exclusive access to Twitter's premium features.
In order to access Twitter Blue, you need to click on the profile menu. The subscription service will automatically pop up at the top of the screen, according to The New York Times.
After tapping that option, it will bring you to the settings page to add the tools you want. That also includes early access to features that Twitter Blue is testing, like uploading 10-minute videos and pinning a conversation at the top of your messages.
Twitter's undo tweet feature allows people to set a 30-second timer before the tweet gets posted so they can undo it and correct any typos or other mistakes.
Users will also be able to customize their experience on the platform with icons and themes. They can organize tweets in a bookmark folder. The features that you get may depend on what type of device you are using.
Twitter said that it plans to add new features to the service as it learns more from its subscribers. Twitter Blue is expected to roll out to more countries. The social media company did not reveal the number of Twitter Blue subscribers.
Reading Ad-Free Articles
Just like the other social media companies, like Facebook and Google, Twitter has also been working on a news-related product.
Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to read ad-free articles from publishers in the United States.
The news sites include USA Today, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Rolling Stone, Insider, and The Hollywood Reporter.
The news sites will know if a subscriber is visiting their website. The company said that it would share its revenue with the news outlets, but it did not specify how much it would be, according to The Verge.
The company said that its goal is to help news publishers make at least 50% more for every visitor. It is more than they would have made from advertisements.
Through Twitter Blue settings, the subscribers will be able to see how much they are contributing to specific news sites in a section that is called "See Your Impact."
The subscribers of Twitter Blue will also be able to view the most shared articles for the last 24 hours. The company said that the articles are ranked based on the number of people who have shared the story in the timeline.
Related Article: Twitter is Now Charging Users $3 to Undo Their Tweets As Part of a Subscription Plan
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
