Twitter Adds a New Monetization Option for Creators

It’s clear how a YouTuber or a Twitcher can earn. But what about Twitter? It also adds monetization features, so, after personal subscription and tipping, Twitter adds new ways for its users to monetize their activity. Tweet Awards will not only make its winners famous but also let them earn on their short-form masterpieces.

These plans were uncovered due to the famous app researcher Jane Manchun Wong. She found the evidence of this upcoming feature on March 12 and made a tweet about it. According to Ms. Wong, the gift feature is about to appear as a reader opens a tweet. Under its body, there is a row of icons, and the fourth of the five, which looks like a gift box, relates to Tweet Awards.

Though the icon looks like Facebook’s virtual gifts, it may be related not to simply sending a gift to the author. This function would just mirror tipping which already exists. Instead, it may relate to a specific tweet instead of the general contribution of the author. This may result in some material reward that the author can later withdraw or in more attention to this tweet, so it will appear as recommended more frequently, and thus draw more attention and get more gifts.

The tweet she revealed has another interesting feature. Next to the nickname of the author, there is a microphone icon. This may have something to do either with Super Follow feature (a paid subscription to a certain user) or with some audio experience like Podcasts or Spaces. The latter makes more sense in wake of the rising interest in podcasts that Twitter demonstrates recently.

Would you reward your favorite authors for particular tweets rather than their overall activity? What do you expect from monetizing options that appear on Twitter in abundance these days? Let us know what you think about Tweet Awards in the comments!