Twitter could launch in-app ‘coins’ to help creators make money

[Hydrogen]

The app is also working on "awards" that can be purchased with coins.

It seems Elon Musk’s Twitter is working on a new scheme to make money from the platform. The service appears to be experimenting with an in-app currency called “coins” meant to help creators earn money from the platform, according to screenshots shared by two app researchers.

The feature has been spotted in recent days by Jane Manchun Wong and Nima Owji, app researchers who often publish images of unreleased features. According to their posts, coins appear to be an extension of Twitter’s existing tipping feature. “Coins allow you to support creators who Tweet great content,” reads a screenshot shared by Wong and Owji. An image shared by Owji back in December showed a new “Coins” tab in the same section where users can keep track of their tips.

For now, it’s unclear exactly what Twitter’s plans are for coins or when the feature could launch. The company, which no longer employs communications staff, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the screenshots suggest Twitter is at least considering featuring coins prominently in its app as both Wong and Owji spotted it in the main sidebar.

But coins may not be just for tipping. Wong also spotted an “Awards” feature, which allows people to use coins to buy in-app gifts for others. According to the image shared by Wong, users would be able to buy gifts for as little as one coin (called “Mind Blown”) or as much as 5000 (called “Gold”). It’s not clear how much coins will cost, though Twitter would presumably get a cut of revenue generated from coin purchases.

So far, Elon Musk doesn’t seem to have publicly weighed in on coins or awards, but he has spoken broadly about wanting more ways for creators to be rewarded. He’s said that Twitter Blue revenue would potentially “give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators” and that “creator monetization for all forms of content” is also in the works.

It’s also worth noting that despite the “coins’ moniker, the feature doesn’t seem to have any cryptocurrency tie-ins, at least for now. “Twitter Coin is still under development and we don't even have any evidence that it's something related to crypto,” Owji noted. “Don’t let the scammers fool you.”



https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/twitter-coins-awards-creators-210326649.html

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Aside from youtube ad revenue has there been a social media platform offering the following features?:

He’s said that Twitter Blue revenue would potentially “give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators” and that “creator monetization for all forms of content” is also in the works.

I'm interested as to how they propose to deploy content creation revenue given the text limit along with limitations on server video bandwidth. Could image based memes could be considered approved content?

Could they conceivable payout decent revenue based on end users publishing a few sentences of text? Could that disrupt the freelance writing market where some authors are paid by number of words published?

They're reporting twitters proposed internal currency coins feature will not be crypto based. Which is interesting development. I think most of us expected dogecoin support. Or something similar. There have been a few previous leaks that this was coming. Although unfortunately the sources were apparently deleted before anything more than a few unconfirmed screen caps could be recorded.

While twitter's launch of a watered down version of facebook's proposed diem and libracoin projects might not be the most exciting headline anyone has seen. Perhaps this could be a step in the right direction?

[Helena Yu]

I don't think it will be easy as we think because anyone will do anything to abuse the system.

Paid based on number of words? it will abused by ChatGPT.
Paid based on how much the likes/tweet/share? it will abused by multiple accounts bot.
Paid based on the quality post including meme? I don't think the team behind twitter will want to spend their whole time to read their member's post.

It's still proposal though, similar like Facebook where they want to create their own coins since 2018 and now there's no progress about it.

[NeuroticFish]

The easiest way to get rich is to make money out of thin air. Whether Elon will try to make only some "game coins" inside Twitter or something else, we'll see. Depending on the path he's taking he may have to pass various licensing steps or not. After Facebook experiment I'm sure the politicians will keep a close eye on it.
If he will make a new coin, then the success of that may happen only together with Twitter's.

[dothebeats]

Would be interesting to see how they would be able to implement security measures to make sure that the system will not be gamed. The parameters to which these rewards would be given will also be interesting too. I don't think it will be solely reliant on content quality because that is subjective. Engagement will also be a hard factor to base on because there are a lot of paid services that can artificially boost post engagements that can game the system. Hopefully Elon and the Twitter team can come up with decent guidelines that addresses this question from content creators and us consumers of content as well.

[avikz]

I don't think it will be easy as we think because anyone will do anything to abuse the system.

Paid based on number of words? it will abused by ChatGPT.
Paid based on how much the likes/tweet/share? it will abused by multiple accounts bot.
Paid based on the quality post including meme? I don't think the team behind twitter will want to spend their whole time to read their member's post.

It's still proposal though, similar like Facebook where they want to create their own coins since 2018 and now there's no progress about it.

I don't think these will be the parameters to monetize the content in Twitter. This is one of Elon's plan he announced immediately after acquiring Twitter. So let's wait for an official announcement. But I am sure that some token based system is going to be introduced which will be used as an in-house currency.

I have seen a lot of speculations around the KPIs for monetized content similar to yours. But no one really knows the reality. Let's wait for that! Every platform faces the risk of misusing the reward system. Twitter is no exception!

[bittraffic]

Damn. Not a word about Doge. If anyone can make money on Twitter, It's time to reactivate your old account and get ready for they might airdrop some of those coins.  Yes, abuse of this rewards system will be discovered by the most adventurous users. It will come since there is motivation.

It will be cool to see if the coin will also be listed in the market, this will really be big knowing that almost everyone we know today is on Twitter. 

[NotATether]

You need to have a huge audience viewing tweets for any of this to stand a chance at working.

...which is not going so well for Twitter because millions of people are watching news or YouTube videos that have a picture of the tweet instead of the actual tweet embed!

[BIT-BENDER]

This doesn’t come as a surprise to me, the current owner of twitter Elon musk has had interest in crypto-Currency. Some of the successes Dogecoin has seen can we likened to him, he has been consistent and open about his love for crypto-currency.

Although Facebook had once tried this same pattern from my research I can see but it did not have an ending they would have expected.

[stompix]

But coins may not be just for tipping. Wong also spotted an “Awards” feature, which allows people to use coins to buy in-app gifts for others. According to the image shared by Wong, users would be able to buy gifts for as little as one coin (called “Mind Blown”) or as much as 5000 (called “Gold”). It’s not clear how much coins will cost, though Twitter would presumably get a cut of revenue generated from coin purchases.

So, they will copy all from Reddit! How original!
But it's also easy to understand, there is little to monetize in Twitter other than some sort of tipping or subscription which will obviously not happen, so tipping, poking, awarding, donating no matter how you name it is the same.

They're reporting twitters proposed internal currency coins feature will not be crypto based. Which is interesting development. I think most of us expected dogecoin support.

No, only dogefans and token addicts that see a token solution everywhere!  
Why would they employ a decentralized cryptocurrency in a centralized platform, it makes no sense, they lose control, there will be hundreds of problems with hacked and emptied accounts, and they will have to look every time at the value of the coin when allowing members to purchase, and they will also to have to pay fees instead of copy-pasting numbers, in short, just as with every token in this world, a in house virtual currency works far better for a centralized platform.

[jossiel]

So it's like the stars sent on facebook contents.

They've got a tipping feature but it didn't really become popular and that's why content creators are just staying somewhere else where they can receive a 'donation' thing from their fans.

Twitter should have done this long time ago but with Elon's management and having this coins for their users or content makers to reward with then, expect that wherever money is then people will come.

[uneng]

If it's really going to be implemented, I believe only popular social influencers who have hundreds of thousands or millions of views and interactions are going to be benefited by the earning feature.

It shouldn't matter the quality of the content, since Youtube isn't concerned about it as well. These companies want high traffic, views and volume, nothing else.

For most users it won't make difference anyway, as they won't be able to earn. I just thought simpleton to call it a "coin". They must be in a very early development stage to not have given it a better name.

[hatshepsut93]

Could that disrupt the freelance writing market where some authors are paid by number of words published?

What does this have to do with freelance writing? Freelance writers get hired to write texts for someone. Twitter is just a microblogging platform. It's a completely different field.

Twitter wasn't a profitable company before Musk, and now it's losing its main source of revenue, which is advertising, as the result of Musk's decisions. And introducing some tokens or subscription is not going to even undo the damage. There's a high chance Twitter will go bankrupt in the next 2-3 years.

[Hydrogen]

Would be interesting to see how they would be able to implement security measures to make sure that the system will not be gamed.

The $8 a month subscriber fee might limit some from making thousands of accounts.

I'm not certain if ChatGPT is capable of making witty puns or meme content on a consistent basis.

There have been similar chat bots as far back as 2001, such as smarter child:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmarterChild

So, they will copy all from Reddit! How original!

Reddit has a rewards program?

Found it:  https://www.reddit.com/coins

Have to read more about it.

What does this have to do with freelance writing? Freelance writers get hired to write texts for someone. Twitter is just a microblogging platform. It's a completely different field.

Well, let's say that freelance writers are paid $0.05 per word written on average.

The limited word and character restrictions of twitter restrict long form content.

Which could significantly raise the revenue writers are paid per word.

If a tweet contains 5 words and earns $20, that comes out to $4 per word. Even if it were a fraction of that amount, it still be a lot more than most writers are paid on average on a word per word basis. To be successful, I think twitter has to pay more cash per word to make the feature attractive due to their ban of long form content found on medium for example.

Which could result in many authors and writers targeting twitter as a source for revenue. Knowing they might be paid significantly more, per word, by using the platform.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

   - In short, they are just trial and error. they will first see if what they are thinking about will help or be a part of their community. They are thinking of a marketing scheme that can be beneficial to them and also to the community members on Twitter.

Then I don't seem to have seen any opportunity to make money on Twitter. Maybe if you have millions of followers, well-known business companies can approach you to contact you because of the followers you have.

[lixer]

Could that disrupt the freelance writing market where some authors are paid by number of words published?

What does this have to do with freelance writing? Freelance writers get hired to write texts for someone. Twitter is just a microblogging platform. It's a completely different field.

Twitter wasn't a profitable company before Musk, and now it's losing its main source of revenue, which is advertising, as the result of Musk's decisions. And introducing some tokens or subscription is not going to even undo the damage. There's a high chance Twitter will go bankrupt in the next 2-3 years.

Twitter is actually a social media platform and not some kind of a blog/micro-blogging site. For blogs, we have the popular blogger dot com and there are other famous platforms as well like WordPress dot com. This new update of Twitter may disrupt other freelancing sites but not specifically those are into writing, as some freelancers might try this out and if it works well on them then they will focus on it.

Before Musk, I think Twitter is one of the leading social media sites so this means they are also earning well. This is why the deal took a while because Jack did also think twice if he will sell his beloved company to Elon or not but the huge offer, made him surrender it. There might be some changes now but as we can see, Elon is constantly doing an update.

[kryptqnick]

Coins for in-app gifts sounds like something that Musk would do. So people pay real money to get in-app money, and creators, instead of monetizing their content, get to use the in-ap money for in-app gifts. Lovely. Maybe it will be different and creators will be able to get the money they are entitled to (because the audience is buying the coins to support the creators, not Elon Musk), or maybe it will be another idea that never gets implemented. Or maybe, just maybe, creators will actually get their financial support. In any case, the currency could have easily been Bitcoin or some other crypto like Musk's beloved Dogecoin, but apparently, they need to invent a bicycle again to ensure they have full control of it.

[TalkativeCoin]

Extremely weird there's no mention of Doge, but on the other hand, maybe it would be a bit too obvious and could lead to backlash/bad press from the mainstream side of things.

[Leviathan.007]

Well, obviously people will like these systems use right now there are many people who are active on Twitter and posting or sharing tweets without earning anything directly so they have to advertise some products to earn some money for the posts they write or the tweets they share even of the Twitter page is very famous they can even earn more, now if Twitter creates systems for content creators and they start earning money directly for their activity there will be even more interest on Twitter from the people who are looking for a way to make money.

[Fortify]

I'm interested as to how they propose to deploy content creation revenue given the text limit along with limitations on server video bandwidth. Could image based memes could be considered approved content?

Could they conceivable payout decent revenue based on end users publishing a few sentences of text? Could that disrupt the freelance writing market where some authors are paid by number of words published?

They're reporting twitters proposed internal currency coins feature will not be crypto based. Which is interesting development. I think most of us expected dogecoin support. Or something similar. There have been a few previous leaks that this was coming. Although unfortunately the sources were apparently deleted before anything more than a few unconfirmed screen caps could be recorded.

While twitter's launch of a watered down version of facebook's proposed diem and libracoin projects might not be the most exciting headline anyone has seen. Perhaps this could be a step in the right direction?

Looks like Twitter has copied the idea from Reddit and who knows how many other places, it's definitely not a new or inspirational idea. Elon is scrambling around trying to collect pennies while he overspent much more on the acquisition because of his own fragile ego and wanting to be the center of attention. I'm glad to see that his wealth has imploded after all his disastrous mistakes and just goes to show that he is definitely more lucky (being able to take advantage of companies with many other creative people who actually deliver the projects) than smart. I have a feeling that these sort of charms and rewards will do little to plug the huge holes, along with the massive reputation damage he has done to it as a relatively responsible platform so far.

[hatshepsut93]

The $8 a month subscriber fee might limit some from making thousands of accounts.

Twitter is still free to use, the $8 subscription is for the blue checkmark. And this blue checkmark gives privileges like higher priority for replies, so it's actually very attractive for someone who runs bots. Countries that casually dump millions of dollars for social media manipulation can easily afford thousands of "verified" bots.

Which could significantly raise the revenue writers are paid per word.

If a tweet contains 5 words and earns $20, that comes out to $4 per word. Even if it were a fraction of that amount, it still be a lot more than most writers are paid on average on a word per word basis. To be successful, I think twitter has to pay more cash per word to make the feature attractive due to their ban of long form content found on medium for example.

Which could result in many authors and writers targeting twitter as a source for revenue. Knowing they might be paid significantly more, per word, by using the platform.

Freelance writers get hired to write texts, from a few hundred words to many thousands. Twitter is not hiring any writers, any sort of content monetization is based on the auditory that a creator can attract. It's a completely different thing from freelance writing, and a freelance writer can't just suddenly switch to being a "Twitter writer", because they lack brand.