Twitter has expanded its tipping feature called Tips to users around the world, and added support for tipping using Bitcoin. First introduced in May for a small group of users in the US, Tips uses third-party payment services and platforms including India’s Razorpay to enable paying tips to creators. Twitter is also expanding the feature by adding new payment services. In addition to the tipping feature, the San Francisco, California-based company has announced recording and replay options coming to Spaces — the integrated offering on the platform that comes as an alternative to social audio app Clubhouse. Twitter also revealed new customised controls and content moderation-centric options.
Initially called Tip Jar, Tips on Twitter has been updated with its global availability. Twitter said in a press briefing on Thursday that the feature will start rolling to users around the world on iOS first and then to Android over the coming weeks.
Alongside global availability, Tips has now also added Bitcoin support.
You can use the new crypto addition to the tipping feature by adding your Bitcoin address to your Twitter profile, to start getting cryptocurrency funds from other users on the platform. People will just need to tap the Monetisation icon next to the Follow button on your profile to copy your Bitcoin address and paste it into a Bitcoin wallet of their choice, to tip you directly from Twitter.
Twitter has also enabled a feature in Tips to let users tip in Bitcoin using the payments application Strike, which is built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Strike is however, currently limited to people in El Salvador and the US (excluding Hawaii and New York). Users don’t have to have a Strike account to send tips to someone over Twitter. The receiver needs to sign up for a Strike account to add it on Twitter.
Following the briefing, Twitter confirmed to Gadgets 360 that cryptocurrency integration is currently limited to Bitcoin. This means that you won’t be able to send or receive tips in other popular cryptocurrencies such as Ether or Litecoin, at this moment.
Nonetheless, Twitter’s strong inclination towards digital currencies suggest that it may expand the feature to other cryptocurrencies over time. Some references about Twitter allowing Bitcoin and Ethereum for its tipping feature were spotted just earlier this month.
Twitter is also adding new payment services to Tips. These services include online fundraising platform GoFundMe and Brazilian mobile payments app PicPay. The feature already supports platforms and services including Bandcamp, Cash App, Chipper, Patreon, and Razorpay, among others.
Aside from Bitcoin integration and expanding Tips with new payment services, Twitter also announced that it would soon explore non-fungible token (NFT) authentication on its platform.
“It’s a way to support creators, making this art with a stamp to demonstrate authenticity. By allowing people to directly connect their crypto wallets, they can track and showcase their NFT ownership on Twitter,” said Esther Crawford, Staff Product Manager at Twitter.
Twitter Spaces with recording and replays
Twitter also announced at its press briefing that it is updating Spaces with the highly anticipated recording and replays features, to allow people listen to audio conversations after they happen. This would give Spaces an edge over Clubhouse, which doesn’t natively support audio recordings.
Additionally, Twitter is working on improving discovery of audio-only conversations on its platform by giving more Spaces at the top of your timeline and in dedicated locations.
Both the recording option as well as improved discovery are marked “coming soon” — an exact launch date was not announced.
Twitter also announced the introduction of a dedicated fund for Spaces hosts. It will provide financial, technical and marketing support to emerging audio creators who are passionate about the live audio format and are interested in creating recurring programming on Spaces, the company said.
Exact size of the fund and other details are yet to be announced.
New controls to make healthy conversations
Aside from product updates, Twitter also talked about the ways it is trying to make the platform more appropriate and suitable for healthy conversations — with limited abuse and trolls. It is also bringing a feature called Heads Up in the coming future to let users know who is in the conversation and what is their vibe before jumping in. This could help reduce the number of potentially heated discussions on the network.
Twitter is also testing a communities feature to bring like-minded people with similar interests under one roof. These communities will have dedicated moderators and norms — over and above the regular Twitter Rules.
Soon, Twitter will also let you remove yourself from a conversation that you don’t want to be in. This will allow users to no longer receive notifications even when they’re mentioned in a conversation. It is also currently testing an option to you remove followers from your profile using the Web or its mobile apps — without letting them know, or blocking their accounts manually.
A couple of weeks back, Twitter started testing profile labels for accounts using bots. This is in plans to be expanded with more account types, like businesses, brands, and memorialised accounts in the future, the company said.
