Twitter launches Super Follows, tests out Safety Mode
Twitter has been experimenting a lot lately with not just new features but new ways for monetization for content creators and brands on the platform. We’ve heard about Super Follows which is a Patreon-like subscription feature for artists, writers, musicians, and other content creators to give exclusive content to their paying followers. It is now officially available for a small group of users in selected countries. Twitter is also testing out a new thing called Safety Mode to a small feedback group and it’s supposed to reduce unwelcome tweets and noise on your timeline.
Super Follows lets “activists, journalists, musicians, content curators, writers, gamers, astrology enthusiasts, skincare and beauty experts, comedians, fantasy sports experts” and more create exclusive content that will be available to those who subscribe to their accounts or Super Follow them. Content can include behind-the-scenes posts, “unfiltered thoughts”, previews of upcoming works and releases, and other subscriber-only conversations. The Super Followers can join conversations that only other subscribers can see, aside from having access to all that exclusive content
Monthly subscription options are $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99. Creators will be able to find their Super Followers through the exclusive badge which will also be highlighted under the name when they reply to your tweets. For now only a small group within the U.S can apply to set up a subscription. You need to have 10k or more followers and you need to have tweeted 25 times within the last 30 days. Only those in the US and Canada on iOS devices can Super Follow accounts.
Meanwhile, Safety Mode is a new feature that will temporarily block accounts for seven days if they use “potentially harmful language” when interacting with you or if they send “repetitive and uninvited” replies or mentions. If you turn the mode on, Twitter will assess who to auto-block based on the content of the tweet and the relationship between the Tweet author and replier. So if you follow or frequently interact with the replier, they won’t be automatically blocked.
Those that will be autoblocked will not be able to follow your account, see your Tweets or send you Direct Messages, at least temporarily. Right now, Twitter is rolling out Safety Mode to a small feedback group of users who are on iOS, Android, and the web version that have English-language settings enabled. They’ll eventually evaluate if this is something that can be rolled out to a larger audience.
