Last year, Twitter introduced the world to live audio conversations with Spaces. Testing was rolled out across the platform to limited audiences, to add a new layer to conversations through people’s voices.
Today, Twitter brings Spaces to all accounts with 600 or more followers, featuring new updates based on feedback received. Based on what Twitter has learned so far, these accounts are likely to have a good experience hosting live conversations because of their existing audience. Before bringing the ability to create a Space to everyone, Twitter is focused on learning more, making it easier to discover Spaces, and helping people enjoy them with a great audience.
Twitter has long been the place people come to talk about what’s happening in the world. Through Spaces, people can now listen to the voices behind the Tweets in a live format. From Tweeting to talking, reading to listening, Spaces encourages and unlocks real, open conversations on Twitter with the authenticity and nuance, depth and power only the human voice can bring. Spaces are for small and intimate conversations with just a few others, or for big discussions about what’s unfolding right now with thousands of listeners. From connecting with a favourite musician to a post game show or a breaking news recap, Spaces allows people to dig even deeper into the topics and conversations they care about with people they know and people they want to know.
How Spaces work
When someone starts or speaks in a Space, it will appear at the top of their followers’ timelines as a purple bubble for as long as it’s live. As a listener, people can react to what they are hearing through emojis, by checking out pinned Tweets, following along with captions, Tweeting or DM’ing the Space, or requesting to speak. Whereas as a speaker, in addition to talking, speakers can pin Tweets to the Space, turn on captions so everyone can follow along, and Tweet the Space so their followers can join. Creating a Space puts a person in control of who’s speaking, the topics, and the vibe.
Joining a Space
Requesting to speak in a Space
How to view captions
In addition to talking, hosts can pin Tweets to the Space, turn on captions so everyone can follow along with what they’re saying, and Tweet the Space so their followers can join.
How hosts can add a Tweet to a Space they’re speaking in
When hosts create a Space, they’re in control – who’s speaking, the topics, and the vibe. They can invite people to join by Tweeting or DM’ing them to jump in and then invite them to speak directly from their Space. From there, hosts can talk about whatever is happening in their world.
How to start a Space
With the purpose of serving the public conversation, part of Twitter’s objective is to ensure people feel safe and comfortable on the platform. As such, Twitter has built-in safety controls for both hosts and speakers. For example, hosts can mute speakers and take away their mic, or remove them from the Space completely. Additionally, hosts will be able to mute all speakers at the same time, and a new management page has been introduced for easier hosting.
Muting everyone in a Space
Anyone can report and block others in the Space, or report the Space. Also, people who a host has blocked can’t join a Space they are hosting, and labels and warnings will appear if a person blocked is speaking in another Space they join.
Feedback and next steps
Through the public’s feedback during the testing phases, additional features have helped improve Spaces such as more audience management controls and adding an ? emoji to express laughter. Here’s more of what’s coming, based on audience feedback:
- Ticketed Spaces: A way 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.
- Schedule and set reminders: To make it easy to track what’s happening and when people will be able to schedule and set reminders for upcoming Spaces in the coming weeks. This way, they don’t miss hearing from their favourites.
- Host with others: Co-hosting with other people to help manage speakers, participants, and pass hosting on to co-hosts when needed.
- Better accessibility: Improvements to live captions so they can be paused, customized, and are more accurate.
- More ways to find Spaces: More ways to find and drop into Spaces across Twitter – joining a Space from a purple bubble around someone’s profile picture that appears in Home timelines when live. This is currently being tested.
Everyone can stay tuned and let Twitter know what they think @TwitterSpaces. More information about how Spaces work can be found here.
