Twitter expands tipping feature worldwide

Twitter announced Thursday that it is rolling out the ability to tip fellow users globally.

The feature will initially be available only on iOS devices but will expand to Android devices.

Twitter first piloted the tipping feature earlier this year as part of its broader strategy to make it easier for creators to monetize their accounts.

As part of Thursday’s rollout, people will be able to tip with Bitcoin in addition to more traditional third party platforms.

“We want everyone to have access to pathways to get paid,” Esther Crawford, product lead for creator modernization, told reporters. “Digital currencies that encourage more people to participate in the economy and help people send each other money across borders and with as little friction as possible help us get there.”

Twitter is also continuing to roll out a feature letting users turn audio-discussion Spaces into ticketed events.

Additionally, the social media platform is moving ahead with plans to expand the Super Follows feature, in which creators can charge users a monthly fee to access exclusive content.

“We’ve been focused on turning followers into fans, and fans into funds,” Twitter’s head of consumer product Kayvon Beykpour said Thursday. “A lot of people on Twitter have built significant followings, and we see a huge opportunity to provide these people an outlet to earn additional income directly from the people who appreciate and value their content the most.”

Twitter also shared updates Thursday on its efforts to give users more control over conversations they are involved in. Users will soon be able to remove themselves from threads without notifying whoever tagged them.

The platform is also exploring adding a feature allowing people to filter specific words out from their replies.

Thursday’s announcements are part of an “intentional strategy” to evolve Twitter’s product, company executives said.

“In the past we were really focused on refining existing parts of Twitter and making it work better and better,” Beykpour told reporters. “In the last couple of years we’ve really set our sights on solving gnarlier problems and taking bigger bets.”