Elon Musk has recently announced a rebranding for Twitter creators who are looking to monetize their content on the platform. Instead of Super Follows, which Twitter introduced in 2021 as a means for creators to offer exclusive tweets for a fee, the emphasis will now be on Subscriptions. In this new scheme, creators will have the ability to earn revenue from their long-form content, including tweets that are extra lengthy, as well as videos that can run for hours on end.
Although the program has been rebranded, the specifics of the Subscription model appear to be similar to those of Super Follows. Creators will still be able to set monthly subscription fees at $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 and offer exclusive content to subscribers, including subscriber-only chats in Twitter Spaces. In addition, paid subscribers will receive special badges as a sign of their support for the creator.
Within the Subscriptions menu, creators can check if they meet the eligibility criteria to offer subscriptions to their followers. To be eligible, a creator must have at least 500 followers, posted 25 tweets within the last 30 days, and be 18 years or older. However, Twitter lists more extensive requirements on its support page, which includes having a minimum of 10,000 active followers to qualify.
The Verge has highlighted an interesting aspect from a help page which indicates that there is a possibility of adding newsletters and other Twitter features as an additional benefit for subscribers. This is particularly noteworthy in light of Elon Musk’s recent public feud with Substack, as well as the fact that he shut down Revue, the newsletter platform that Twitter had acquired in 2021, shortly after assuming the role of CEO.
For the next 12 months, Twitter will keep none of the money.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2023
You will receive whatever money we receive, so that’s 70% for subscriptions on iOS & Android (they charge 30%) and ~92% on web (could be better, depending on payment processor).
After first year, iOS & Android fees…
Super Follows had failed to gain much momentum even before Elon Musk became involved with Twitter. Now, it appears that Musk is attempting to entice creators with more attractive terms, at least in the short term. He stated that Twitter would not be taking any additional percentage of creators’ earnings from Subscriptions for the next 12 months.
Twitter has also promised to take a lower percentage of creators’ earnings under the new Subscription model. Creators can expect to receive 70 percent of their earnings from mobile subscriptions and approximately 92 percent from web-based subscriptions. These figures account for all revenue after app store and payment processing fees. However, it is unclear how Google Play Store’s reduced cut of 15 percent from in-app subscriptions will impact Twitter’s creators.
Elon Musk, who recently became involved with Twitter, stated that Android charges 30 percent on subscriptions in the first year and 15 percent thereafter. However, Google has disputed this claim, stating that it charges 15 percent on subscriptions from the outset. Google Play’s “Service fees” page confirms this, stating that it takes a 15 percent cut from all subscription revenue generated through its platform. It remains unclear how Twitter’s new Subscription model will be impacted by Google’s subscription fees.
Elon Musk also stated that Twitter would assist in promoting creators’ work, although he did not provide any specifics on what this would entail. The new Subscription model aims to provide creators with a more lucrative means of earning revenue from their content on Twitter compared to the previous Super Follows model, which failed to gain significant traction.
Via: The Verge