Twitter on Thursday began allowing some users add virtual tip jars to accounts so people can support their tweets by tossing in money.
According to Twitter senior product manager Esther Crawford, a small number of users around the world who tweet in English can add a “Tip Jar” feature to their profiles.
Creators, journalists, experts, and non-profits made up the group.
“You drive the conversation on Twitter and we want to make it easier for you to support each other beyond Follows, Retweets, and Likes,” Crawford wrote in a blog post.
“This is a first step in our work to create new ways for people to receive and show support on Twitter – with money.”
According to Crawford, a Tip Jar icon on a profile page indicates an option to be taken to services like Patreon, PayPal, or Venmo to send money to a creator.
She stated that Twitter does not take a cut of tips.
“We’ll soon be able to add Tip Jar to more people’s profiles, and we’ll expand to more languages,” Crawford said.
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The one-to-many global messaging platform is eager to expand its user base and encourage people to spend more time on the platform.
Last week, Twitter reported lower-than-expected earnings and slowing user growth.
Even though it has become an important forum for policy debates, Twitter has struggled to expand beyond its core audience of celebrities, journalists, and political leaders.
Even as it strives to become a platform for political discourse, Twitter has struggled to combat misinformation and abusive content.
