Yes, you read right. Twitter, the bird app everybody loves to hate is getting an entire section for podcasts.
From today, Twitter will be rolling out a redesign of its “Spaces” tab to incorporate podcasts as a test.
What is Twitter Spaces? Why, it’s that tab you only ever open accidentally, constantly filled with crypto bros in audio “spaces”, talking about how their monkey pictures or totally real currencies are going to be the next big innovation.
Realistically, Twitter Spaces exist to give communities a place to talk about things verbally (with moderation controls to mute and kick people if they’re being annoying), but it’s not really a major part of Twitter.
Twitter Spaces was originally rolled out as a hasty copy of “Clubhouse”, an app that’s hardly used anymore. Clubhouse was an audio-based social media app that got really popular during the height of the pandemic, but it’s been a hot minute since anybody heard of it.
Now, Twitter is evolving the Spaces section to include podcasts, probably because the audio show format is quite popular. Funnily enough, YouTube is gearing up to do the same thing soon.
good news, today we’re starting to test a new Spaces Tab
even better news, it includes podcasts, themed audio stations, and (of course) recorded + live Spaces pic.twitter.com/TGS2aVsUI1
— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) August 25, 2022
“We know that some discussions need more than 280 characters, and bringing people closer to the ideas, content, and creators they know and love is core to Twitter no matter where the conversations take place,” Twitter said in its media release.
“This redesign introduces personalised hubs that group audio content together by specific themes like news, music, sports, and more. Now Twitter listeners will be able to easily access a more personalised selection of live and recorded Spaces discussing the topics that are most relevant to them.”
The new podcasts in the Spaces tab push the audio-based live rooms to the side to make room for the more condensed show-based content.
Included in that new content will be Vox Media’s podcast collection, including Today, Explained and Pivot, although the announcement post didn’t include any information about uploading your own podcasts. We’ve reached out to Twitter to ask how this will work.
The feature is being rolled out to English-speaking audiences on iOS and Android platforms from today.
The updates haven’t come through on my phone just yet, but it’s likely being rolled out in parts.