Taking on invite-only audio chat app Clubhouse, Twitter has announced to make its live audio conversation app Spaces available to users with 600 followers or more on both iOS and Android platforms.
The company said it is also working on 'Ticketed Spaces' feature for hosts to be rewarded for the experiences they create by getting monetary support, while providing listeners with exclusive access to the conversations they care about most. Hosts can set ticket prices and how many are available to sell. A limited group will be able to host Ticketed Spaces in the coming months. Hosts earn the majority of the revenue from ticket sales and Twitter will keep a small amount as well.
To make it easy to track what's happening and when, you'll also be able to schedule and set reminders for upcoming Spaces in the coming weeks. On Twitter for iOS and Android, when someone you follow starts or speaks in a Space, it'll appear at the top of your timeline as a purple bubble for as long as it's live. "When you join a Space as a listener, you can react to what you hear with emojis, check out any pinned Tweets, follow along with captions, Tweet or DM the Space, or request to speak," the company said in a statement late on Monday.
After first testing Spaces with a small group of people on iOS, Twitter in March expanded the test to Android users in India, to give them a chance to join, listen, and speak in live, host-moderated audio conversations. According to the company, when you join a Space as a speaker, in addition to talking, "you can pin Tweets to the Space, turn on captions so everyone can follow along with what you're saying, and Tweet the Space so your followers can join". "Invite people to join by Tweeting or DM'ing them to jump in and then invite them to speak directly from your Space. From there, talk about whatever is happening in your world," Twitter said.
Twitter has also provided safety controls to hosts and speakers. A host can mute speakers and take away their mic, or remove them from the Space completely if they are found misbehaving. "Recently, we added the ability for Hosts to mute all speakers at the same time and a new management page for easier hosting," the company informed. Anyone can report and block others in the Space, or report the Space. "Also, people you've blocked can't join a Space you're hosting, and you'll see labels and warnings if someone you've blocked is speaking in a Space you join," said Twitter.
