In the fall of 2019, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth created “Talkshow.” It was an app designed for listening to podcasts. In February 2020, the app was rebranded as Clubhouse, a drop-in, and invite-only audio chat app. It was specifically redesigned for 2 types of people – talkers and listeners. When the COVID-19 pandemic heightened in March 2020, Clubhouse became a hit in the US. This prompted other social media networks to clone the app.
As a Clubhouse clone, Twitter created Spaces. They are live audio rooms for the Twitter nation. The platform began testing these audio rooms way back in November 2020. The feature was globally launched last May. Since then, the platform continues to innovate to enhance Spaces and outcompete the Clubhouse app. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong is confident that Twitter Spaces will be the leader of audio marketing moving forward. With 199 million daily active users of Twitter, and the platform’s modern technology, Spaces will surely go a long, long way.
WHAT ARE TWITTER SPACES?
Twitter Spaces are live audio rooms that can accommodate up to 11 participants, including the host. They are available both for Android and iOS users. There are two ways for Twitter users to host or start a Space or audio room. First, you can long-press the tweet composer on your home page and choose the Spaces icon. The icon shows multiple circles forming a diamond shape. Second, users can tap their profile image on Fleets and move far-right to tap Spaces.
A social media agency Hong Kong notes that Twitter Spaces are public. This means anyone who has a Twitter account can join. A Twitter Space host can invite users through a unique link that he or she could send as a direct message (DM), share via email, chat, or on other social media platforms. The Space host can also tweet a Space on his or her profile. The Space host can also customize the name of the Space or audio room. Once a Space room is in progress, a bubble on the Fleets of a Twitter profile will be visible for both the hosts and listeners.
Twitter users can also schedule Spaces for later. After tapping the Spaces icon, just select “schedule for later.” A host can then set the date and time when he or she would like to go live. At the chosen date and time, just click the microphone button to start the Space audio room. The listeners’ microphones are automatically muted. Listeners who want to speak can send a request by tapping the “request” button under the microphone icon. The host can decline or grant access to such a request. The host is also capable of inviting listeners to speak as co-hosts.
WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE ABOUT TWITTER SPACES?
Modern consumers are also tapping into the power of audio listening like radios a few decades ago. They listen to podcasts for inspiration and to learn new skills. For a more private connection, they tend to use audio rooms instead of video calls.
Twitter Spaces are new ways for marketers to fill up their content marketing calendar. Twitter Spaces is a free tool that marketers can use to establish a dynamic presence with the Twitter nation. Using the power of the human voice, they can authentically connect to their target audience.
Twitter brands hosting audio Spaces can educate their audiences to highlight the important features of their products and services. Spaces work both for Android and iOS users. As such, Spaces can boost both a brand’s reach and revenue.
Twitter Spaces can also boost engagement among brands. They use captions making them accessible to users. They also allow reactions for listeners to actively engage within the conversation.
KEY FEATURES OF TWITTER SPACES THAT ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN THE CLUBHOUSE APP
Emoji Reactions
Twitter Spaces allow emoji reactions while the conversation is ongoing. This is to make it easier for the listeners to actively engage in the conversation and express their emotions. They can react in real-time by highlighting an emoji. This emoji will come up on their profile photo within the Space audio room. The Clubhouse app also doesn’t have such graphics reactions within an audio room. To react within Clubhouse audio rooms, a listener needs to flash the microphone to request permission to speak. This is the only way that listeners can reply to what the speaker is saying.
Membership Option
Unlike Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces is not an invite-only membership. Any Twitter account with at least 600 followers can launch a Space audio room. If an account has less than 600 followers, you can send a request to the Twitter help center on how you can access Spaces. As such, Twitter Spaces is technically open to the 330 million members of the Twitter nation.
Pinned Tweets
While a Twitter Space audio room is in progress, hosts can pin content on top of the room. To pin a tweet, go to the tweet composer while hosting a live Space audio room and add content. Such pinned tweets are highlighted for other speakers and listeners to see. They can engage with, follow, or share these pinned tweets. Spaces hosts can also add multiple pinned tweets to serve as a presentation right inside Spaces. The Clubhouse app only focuses and doesn’t have such text or visual components. This is one advantage of Twitter Spaces over them.
Rename Audio Rooms
Twitter Spaces allow flexibility in changing the name of audio rooms and deleting pinned tweets as needed. This can let potential listeners know the topics of the conversations. Especially during long conversations when the Spaces topics change from time to time, hosts can change the Spaces’ name as needed. The Clubhouse app focuses on short audio discussions. As such, they don’t have a function of changing the audio room’s name as the conversation started. They can only put a name on the room before the audio discussion progresses.
Twitter Spaces has been a major competitor of the Clubhouse app. It has even slowed down the popularity of the latter. With Twitter being an established social media network, it will surely find ways to make Spaces a great marketing option.
Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/twitter-spaces-how-to-get-started/