Twitter Communities: Tweet to Interests, Not Just Followers

Twitter Explores New Ways to Connect Users Through 'Communities'

While currently a valuable platform for tracking current events and staying informed about individuals you already follow, Twitter has historically presented challenges in discovering new connections and fostering organized community spaces.

The company is actively addressing this limitation. Twitter has been consistently introducing new features, and its latest initiative, known as Communities, aims to simplify connections based on shared interests.

How Communities Will Function

Users will have the ability to join these dedicated social hubs and engage in direct communication with others who share their passions, rather than broadcasting to their entire follower base. These posts will remain publicly visible, but the ability to reply will be restricted to fellow community members.

Initially, the creation of Communities will be controlled by Twitter, though this will be expanded in the future. For the time being, most users will need to wait several months before establishing their own groups.

The first Communities will focus on widely popular and generally safe topics, including interests like “dogs, weather, sneakers, skincare, and astrology.” Twitter’s previews also showcase potential groups centered around cryptocurrency, plants, and Black women photographers.

The initial testing phase begins on Wednesday and will be accessible through a dedicated section at the bottom of the iOS application or within the side menu on Twitter.com.

Android users will also be able to view content from Communities, with further functionality – including the ability to join and participate – expected to be implemented shortly.

Moderation and Management

Communities will be overseen by designated moderators. These moderators will possess the authority to invite new members via Direct Message and to remove inappropriate content.

While initial access will be invite-only, Twitter intends to develop discovery features to help users locate communities aligned with their interests.

“Some conversations aren’t for everyone, just the people who want to talk about the thing you want to talk about,” explained David Regan, Twitter’s Staff Product Manager, in a blog post.

He continued, “We want to continue to support public conversation and help people find Communities that match their interests, while also creating a more intimate space for conversation.”

Addressing Moderation Concerns

Moderation is a key consideration for any user-generated community space on social media. Twitter emphasizes that all users will be able to read, report, and quote content within a Community, even without membership.

This differs from private groups on platforms like Facebook, where reporting may be limited to members. Twitter is also developing “new reporting flows, and bespoke enforcement actions” to proactively identify and address problematic Communities.

Supporting Creators and Expanding Features

The launch of Communities complements Twitter’s recent initiatives to attract and support content creators.

These include the introduction of Super Follows, a paid subscription service, and Ticketed Spaces, which allows users to sell access to audio rooms.

Twitter is also testing Tip Jar, a feature enabling one-time payments to select accounts.

A Shift Towards Community-Focused Interaction

Communities represent a significant evolution for Twitter, as the platform seeks to become a more dynamic space for community building.

By establishing dedicated areas for subcommunities, Twitter appears to be moving closer to platforms like Discord or Reddit, where interactions are centered around self-moderated, interest-based groups.

While these platforms also face moderation challenges, their focused communities allow for deeper engagement than often found on Twitter.

This new direction is an interesting development for a social network that has remained relatively unchanged for over a decade. If successful, Communities could strengthen connections between users and enhance the overall experience on the platform.

However, achieving this requires a careful balance between fostering growth within these new subcommunities and ensuring their safety and integrity.