Twitter’s Paid Subscription ‘Super Follows’ Feature Launches for Creators

Earlier this year we reported that Twitter is planning to start testing several new features, that include a subscription-based program called “super follows” that will let users earn revenue from followers by offering exclusive content, in the company’s first step away from a free-of-charge format. The social media company announced today that it has begun rolling out.

Super Follows grant VIP access to certain users’ exclusive, subscriber-only tweets, separate from standard, public tweets. Super Follows come at a monthly subscription cost of either $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99, set by the designated Twitter user.

Applications for Twitter users to gain access to Super Followers and Ticketed Spaces, which are paid audio chat rooms, launched in June. Users will be given 97% of the revenue generated from the monetized features after in-app purchase fees. However, once an individual user makes $50,000 in lifetime earnings from Twitter, the company will take 20%. To become eligible for the Super Follows waitlist, a user needs to have at least 10,000 followers, be 18 years old, and have tweeted 25 times in the last 30 days.

The new feature is envisioned to further drive conversation and allow users to make money while providing content to their biggest followers. People who users can Super Follow will include activists, journalists, musicians, content curators, writers, gamers, astrology enthusiasts, skincare and beauty experts, comedians, fantasy sports experts, and more. iOS users in the U.S. and Canada can Super Follow select accounts starting Wednesday, and the feature will roll out globally in the next few weeks. Android and Twitter.com access will arrive at a later date.

Twitter described the Super Follower content as “unfiltered thoughts, exclusive announcements, early previews, and subscriber-only conversations.” A makeup guru may offer at-home beauty tips, an astrologist can examine someone’s birth chart or an NBA expert can share exclusive interviews with Super Followers, for example. Someone who Super Follows another Twitter user will have a special public badge on their profile, which will appear when they reply to a creator’s tweets. To Super Follow someone, a button will appear on that person’s profile with a description of their content and price. In-app payment is required to subscribe to the account.

Super Follows come less than a month after Twitter shut down its Fleet feature, which were Snapchat-like temporary posts that disappeared after 24 hours. Fleets launched in November 2020, but were removed after low user-adoption.