So here it is: Twitter’s answer to the hype app Clubhouse. Tests have been running for several months, and now Twitter Spaces is officially launched. We tell you everything you should know in our mini-guide.
This news should make Android users who have been excluded from the hype happy: Twitter launches its Clubhouse clone Spaces and rolls it out worldwide.
Admittedly, the launch is also initially running with a restriction: Because initially, only accounts with more than 600 followers can start a live audio. But Twitter promises to activate the function for all accounts in the coming weeks.
How Twitter Spaces work
First of all, all Twitter Spaces are public – just as tweets are. Anyone whose Twitter account is currently in Spaces is shown to followers in the timeline via a purple bubble in the Fleets area.
Currently, anyone can listen to an ongoing audio conversation on Twitter – the number of listeners is unlimited. Anyone listening can respond to the conversation with emojis or request permission to speak from the host.
Create your own Twitter Spaces only with at least 600 fans
Users with at least 600 followers can create their own Spaces. Currently there are two possibilities: Either you start an audio talk for everyone you follow, or only for selected users by invitation.
The host can currently allow up to eleven speakers, but can also remove, report or block them.
Twitter stores conversations for 30 days
On Twitter, Spaces are only publicly available while they are live. The short message service stores the audio data and – if available – subtitles for 30 days after the end of the conversation.
This is Twitter’s way of playing it safe in case violations of Twitter’s guidelines need to be reviewed after the fact.
Ticketing, scheduling and more: these features are still planned for Twitter Spaces
While the first users are already able to launch their Spaces, Twitter continues to work diligently on expanding its audio offering.
Ticketed Spaces, for example, will soon be available, where hosts can sell tickets for exclusive access to conversations. The short messaging service plans to “keep a small amount” of the revenue.
A function for scheduling Spaces is also to come soon. Users:inside can also use this to be reminded of upcoming conversations.
But hosts don’t have to stay alone. Twitter also wants to introduce co-hosting. This means that a conversation room can continue to exist even if one of the hosts has to leave it.
The next competitor for Clubhouse
The announcement of Twitter Spaces is likely to finally deprive the makers of Clubhouse of their last sleep. Since the launch of the hype app, one major tech player after another has announced competing products.
The current download figures, which Business Insider quotes from Sensor Tower, should not cause much joy. While 9.6 million users installed the app in February 2021, the number dropped to a measly 922,000 in April 2021.
Even in March, the download numbers were only 2.7 million – so in April, it was a whole 66 percent less.
Of course, Twitter can now take advantage of this with its Spaces. In addition, the short message service is already established on the market and has a loyal following.
The simultaneous launch on iOS and Android is also an entry on the plus side for Twitter. The lack of an Android app was criticized at Clubhouse for a long time and in detail. All in all, Twitter would be in a position to take Clubhouse by the scruff of its neck.
