If you want to maximize your usage of any platform, you need to have an understanding of why people use it, what they’re looking to discuss there, and how you can tap into those trends.
To help with this, Twitter has published a new, 33-page trends report, which highlights a range of rising topics based on overall tweet engagement over the past two years.
As explained by Twitter:
“People come to Twitter to talk about the things that matter to them. Entertainment, news, sports, fashion – it’s all here. And by analyzing these honest conversations, we can get a fresh understanding of the evolving cultural trends and attitudes shaping our future.”
So Twitter’s taking a broader view, in looking at the platform’s cultural impact – but from a marketing perspective, it’s more about what people are coming to Twitter for, specifically, and how that relates to discussions in the app.
Within the report, for which Twitter analyzed tweets posted by US users between December 2018 through to November 2020, Twitter has pinpointed six key areas of rising focus.
This listing does seem to reflect broader conversational trends off the platform as well, which makes sense, but it is interesting to note the specifics of each discussion via tweet.
For each trend, Twitter highlights several topics of focus, with an overview of each, including mention trends over time:
Twitter also includes a listing of related hashtags for each:
The topics highlighted are, as noted, largely reflective of broader discussion trends, but the specific insights here are valuable, particularly around elements like digital connectivity:
Many of these trends, exacerbated by the pandemic, will hold after the vaccine roll-out, changing consumption behaviors – which is also likely true for the eCommerce shift.
That’s especially important to note in a Twitter-specific sense because it speaks to what people are growing to expect from brands on the platform, which could inform your strategic approach.
There’s a heap of insight here, with each focus topic of varying relevance, dependent on your niche.
You can download the full ‘The Conversation: Twitter Trends’ 2021 report here (via e-mail sign-up).
Twitter is adding a “super” option to its service.
The social media giant announced it’s exploring a new subscription option called “super follows.”
The feature, which will likely roll out later this year, will allow content creators to charge a fee for exclusive content that won’t be shown to regular followers.
The company announced the feature in an investor presentation on Thursday, per The Guardian.
The content can vary from subscriber-only newsletters to videos and deals.
Currently, the feature is in internal testing and not available to the public, though the company said it will have “more to share” soon.
Interested users would pay a monthly fee to access the additional content. Twitter has not revealed the percentage it would cut its creators.
The move, which users and investors have been asking for, comes as Twitter aims to find ways to make money outside of advertising. It would also put Twitter on the same playing field as other subscription-based companies such as Patreon and OnlyFans.
A Twitter spokesperson said they’ve been “examining and rethinking the incentives of our service — the behaviors that our product features encourage and discourage as people participate in conversation on Twitter.”
“Exploring audience funding opportunities like Super Follows will allow creators and publishers to be directly supported by their audience and will incentivize them to continue creating content that their audience loves,” the company said in a statement.
They are also considering a tipping option, according to NBC News.
During the presentation, the company unveiled several other products including paid or free newsletters and “Twitter Spaces,” which allows users to participate in audio chats.
The company also outlined goals that included doubling its revenge by 2023.
It seems like an eternity, but not long ago, this same Kentucky Wildcats team started conference play 3-0 before a big showdown with Alabama.
The Cats weren’t up to that challenge that day, and the season quickly tanked after the loss.
The stage on Saturday’s was set similarly, as UK put their three-game winning streak on the line inside Rupp Arena.
No matter the result, I anticipated Twitter would be an emotional place for Kentucky fans this afternoon.
Early on, the vibes were terrific after a fast start fueled by BJ Boston and Davion Mintz. It’s clear that this new run and gun style offense is proving to transform UK’s entire offensive approach.
Kentucky would go on to score 39 points in the first half.
Despite playing swarming defense for a good portion of the first 20 minutes, a Florida run cut the lead to just one point.
Things didn’t come easy in half number two, but if nothing else, the Cats fought all day long.
The game went back and forth with both teams responding to runs from the opposing side.
A Jacob Toppin put back slam gave the Cats a 63-62 lead at the under four minute timeout.
The stage was set.
Despite this game not meaning much in terms of Kentucky’s postseason future, it still had the feel of a very important last four minutes.
After clawing to the end, it just wasn’t enough and Kentucky falls to Florida.
Again — this doesn’t matter much, but it’s definitely deflating to come up short after so much momentum has been built the past few weeks.
Davion Mintz balled out and finished with 21 points.
Here’s what Twitter had to say about the heartbreaker.
My timeline is BIG mad about this game bleeding over. I sorta get it but, y’all, they’re making the fans in that arena sit and do nothing just so you don’t miss tip.
Kentucky’s doing some great stuff, particularly defensively, but negating it with turnovers. Florida capitalizing with three-three-dunk. Two-point game, 26-24.
Against a 3-2 zone pass to the middle then have a cutter on the baseline. It’s a layup every time. We are standing around the perimeter without a clue of what to do.
Florida played at a pretty high level for a lot of that half. Seemed like every Gator bucket was a highlight reel play. UK must get back to attacking UF early in possessions
Couple of tough twos allowed UK to get the lead back, but feels like UK needs Isaiah Jackson on the floor to win this game. Gators got to the rim way too easy as the 1H closed.
The zone definitely threw Kentucky off but things changed on the defensive end when Jackson picked up his 2nd foul. Florida really attacked the rim when he was out.
Cats have hit 60 of their last 65 at FT line over last three games. Last year’s team was the best FT shooting team I’ve covered at UK. This one is starting to look like them.
It’s clear Jackson’s presence is important.. only played 6 min in that opening half and has been physical to start this second half.. he’s built different
I’m confident enough to double down on Devin Askew down the stretch. He is this team’s Point Guard. There just aren’t many options. There will be ups and downs. We want and NEED him in down the stretch. Tie game with 12:00 minutes left. Let’s win a game!
Someone on this Kentucky team is going to put someone on a poster or in a body bag before all is said and done. They’ve gotten very bold with their dunk attempts the last few weeks
Let’s lay out the stakes. If Kentucky pulls a miracle, they’ll need to win the SEC Tournament. If Kentucky comes up short, they’ll need to win the SEC Tournament.
Cats see their three-game win streak come to an end. Haven’t won four straight this season, which they’ll need to do in Nashville to make the NCAA Tourney. pic.twitter.com/IAyD8azOci
The idea presented on Friday, Super Follows, which I’ve discussed recently, suggests the development of features found on platforms such as Patreon and Substack, making it possible for followers of an account to pay to obtain a series of exclusive services, which would allow them to access group functions, newsletters, special content, offers and discounts, along with audio conversations à la Clubhouse, in addition to some kind of badge or identifier.
The idea, still with no schedule, is to be able to support payment walls that will enable an account to consider different levels of offerings, from a series of contents that are shared with everyone, to access for those who contribute economically to the activity of their creators. In short, a model of basic services plus premium services we are becoming used to for services ranging from the daily press to many other types of content, and which depends on the ability of creators to promote the growth of a conversion rate.
Persuading a Twitter follower to pay for content requires two things: firstly, that they perceive enough value in the content to want to continue accessing it when they are behind a paywall, rather than simply trying to find similar content elsewhere. This is a variable that some newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post or Financial Times, or audiovisual content services such as Netflix and others have been successfully exploiting for some time now, but that has proved problematic for other media whose content is not seen as unique.
The second aspect is what I tend to call militancy: attracting users who simply want to contribute to the creation of particular content. This implies nurturing a committed community, which not only perceives value, but somehow identifies with it, feels part of it, and understands that its contribution is part of a project that goes beyond content. This is by no means simple, but it is increasingly common.
All this suggests we are seeing the emergence of a freemium economy wherein some services or content are offered for free to create the broad base of a pyramid, which then tries to seduce users with an additional offer of exclusive or premium services or content, with more or less sophisticated barriers.
For a long time, the main idea was to offer content for free, but accompanied by advertising. This model, which has suffered as a result of increasingly intrusive and annoying formats, ultimately led to freemium models such as Spotify’s, in which advertising was used as a means of punishment or torture to encourage people to pay for the service.
We’re now seeing more and more freemium models: if you want to read articles on Medium, for example, created by Evan Williams, you can read some articles, but after a certain number, you will have to subscribe, or you can only read those that the author provides a link to (the links I use to share my articles on social networks are of that type). If you want to use Evernote, created by Phil Libin, you will be able to use certain features, but others will require you to subscribe. Phil also created the wonderful mmhmmvideo conferencing software, which is offered free for education or other groups for a certain time, but after that, requires a subscription too. In both cases, Williams and Libin found that trying to fund such models through advertising was a waste of time, and that the only way to make the service viable was for users to pay to access content. The latest social network sensation, Clubhouse, seems to be going down the same road: free basic functions and a subscription to access others, coupled with incentives for creators who generate more subscriptions.
In other cases, the aim is to create a habit: we all know that many sites use cookies to limit the number of articles that can be read and that it is enough to periodically delete those cookies to be able to access more articles and bypass the limitation. The idea is that over time, regular users will take out a subscription, and that people will eventually realize that the only way creators can survive is through financial support.
In the end, it all comes down to conversion rates: if a lot of people want to consume your content but decide to stay in the free section, you will have to consider the balance between what you give away in that section and the value you can add in the next one you offer as premium, and try to incentivize that conversion. This is an economic model that has been tried and tested for some time now, but which we will start to see everywhere.
