US-based microblogging platform Twitter is expanding its Clubhouse-like social audio rooms feature to more users by enabling accounts with 600 or more followers to host Spaces.
Twitter users on Android and iOS will be able to create Spaces. The expansion comes after months of testing among select users. “Before bringing the ability to create a Space to everyone, we’re focused on learning more, making it easier to discover Spaces, and helping people enjoy them with a great audience,” the company said in a blog post.
The microblogging platform also competes with Clubhouse which has just started beta testing its Android app. Further, Twitter plans to introduce new features to monetize Spaces through ticketing. The company says hosts will be able to set ticket prices and the number of tickets sold, which could let people create exclusive events and earn some money for their efforts.
Ticketed Spaces will be available to a limited group of hosts in the coming months. Twitter said the majority of the revenue will go to the hosts while “a small amount” will go to the company, but it did not specify the details regarding the revenue split.
Twitter said that its decision to about 600 or more followers hosting a Space was based on feedback from its testing period. Another reason is that “these accounts are likely to have a good experience hosting live conversations because of their existing audience.”
Scheduling and setting reminders for Twitter Spaces are also being tested by the platform. Hosts will be able to use these features for upcoming Spaces in the coming weeks.
Twitter plans to add more features including co-hosting Spaces, and improvements to live captions, bringing the ability to pause captions, scroll back, and customize fonts.
