Twitter is reportedly ready to introduce a paying plan

Step by step, Twitter is moving towards new paying plans. Analyst Jane Manchun Wong, an expert in digging up information on web giants, revealed that the microblogging platform is preparing a subscription offer, called 'Twitter Blue,' at a price of 2.99 dollars per month (£2.11). This option gives subscribers a 30-second delay before publishing their tweets, during which they can delete the message, in case they notice a spelling mistake for example, or have last minute regrets.

The service would also offer to save the publications of other accounts in a 'favourites' folder to make it easier to find them later. Jane Manchun Wong says Twitter is working on a tiered subscription model, which means that the $2.99 offer would only be the first tier. The most expensive option would be to remove all ads and sponsored content from your news feed. When contacted by the editors, Twitter did not wish to react to these announcements.

Fewer users than expected

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of the Californian group, had already announced on 5 May that he intended to offer a way of consulting the platform without being annoyed by advertisements. This statement followed his acquisition of the startup Scroll, an ad-free reading service for news sites. Unlike Adblock, the user paid a flat fee of 5 dollars per month (£3.53) and partner publishers received a share of the revenue based on clicks. The acquisition of the start-up was meant to allow Twitter to establish relationships with new partners, particularly the media.

For the time being, the bulk of the Californian group's turnover—nearly one billion pounds—is based on advertising revenue. This business model has its limits, particularly in terms of attracting a new audience. The platform published weaker results than expected in April. The number of daily 'monetisable' users (having been exposed to at least one advertisement on a given day) stood at 199 million in the first quarter, 1 million less than analysts had forecast.

Influencers linked to the blue bird app

Jack Dorsey is looking to diversify his revenue streams, but also to offer a new way to interact on his platform. Just like YouTube, Snapchat or Instagram, Twitter wants to bring on influencers. Unlike its competitors, these web stars would not be paid by brands, but by users. In early May, the bird app introduced a tipping system, limited for the moment to a few accounts only. The platform invites its users to pay a sum of money to content creators to support them financially.

Finally, a paid newsletter service should also be launched after the group bought Revue, last January, a startup specialising in this format. In contrast with Facebook and its chaotic news management, Twitter would like to establish itself as the social network for serious, but paid, news.