Twitter's Patreon alternative reportedly comes with one hefty requirement
Twitter's upcoming Super Follows apparently won't be for everyone.
The feature that the company revealed back in February promises to bring a Patreon-like experience to the platform, allowing prolific users with lots of followers to turn a profit on their 240-characters-or-less doses of personal wisdom. Now, alleged new details unearthed by tech blogger and frequent revealer-of-tech-secrets Jane Manchum Wong offer a better sense of what to expect.
In a tweet published Sunday, Wong noted that Super Follow applicants will have to meet a specific set of criteria. Namely, they'll need at least 10,000 followers, they'll need to have posted at least 25 tweets in the past 30 days, and they'll need to be at least 18 years old.
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The latter two requirements should be easy enough for most Twitter users (even if the younger ones might not be thrilled at having to wait). But the 10,000 followers threshold for getting a Super Follow account will limit users' access to the feature far more than is the case on Patreon, where creating an account costs nothing and has no major strings attached.
The tweet also notes that Twitter's Super Follows may have a bit more freedom in catering to an adult audience. Twitter's sensitive media policy doesn't expressly prohibit what it calls "adult content" — consensually produced pornography, essentially — as long as it's not in a live video. But Super Follows will be able to make themselves more searchable with an "Adult content" category tag, and they'll also be able to link their account to an Only Fans account at the profile level (among other services).
Wong's tweet also runs through a small selection of the perks that Super Follows can look forward to, including customized labels for so-called "Super Followers" and bonus content like exclusive tweets that can only be viewed by those subscribers.
Twitter's formal introduction of the feature back in February touted the service as a fixed subscription where Super Follows charge $4.99/month for an assortment of perks, including "subscriber-only newsletters," "supporter badges," and "community access." Those details weren't fully set when the feature was first announced, and it's possible that some or all of the specifics have since changed.
As with all stories like this, treat every detail you see here with some healthy skepticism until it's officially confirmed. Reached by email, Twitter declined an opportunity to comment.
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Topics Social Media X/Twitter
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
