From stepping up against the US President to getting a new CEO, 2021 brought a lot of chaotic calm for Twitter. Here are the highlights.
Twitter was the first platform to take action against the social media presence of the then US President, Donald Trump. Other platforms such as Facebook had followed suit. It was one of the bravest decisions taken by the company, something for which they got both praise and flak. At Twitter, 2021 was a year of two key exits — Jack Dorsey quitting as CEO and India MD Manish Maheshwari exiting to build his ed-tech startup.
This year, the platform has taken various steps to amp up experiences on the platform — including redesigning the UI, making it easier for people to read threads, and inking deals with ViacomCBS and Sony Pictures Network India to expand the horizons of marketing and content on Twitter. The company has also tried to create more avenues of monetization for creators, especially in the audio space.
Change In Leadership
After 16 years at the helm of operations, Jack Dorsey resigned from Twitter as CEO this year. It was a landmark decision in the history of Twitter, with the founder stepping out to ensure there were no hurdles in its expansion plans and story. Previously the CTO, Parag Agrawal was unanimously appointed the new CEO. Dorsey’s decision to exit the company he built was driven by the idea that founder-led companies tend to fail. He wants Twitter to be free of his influence and direction — to grow in a way he couldn’t have imagined.
Bidding Goodbye To Fleets
A little over a year after its launch, Fleets were discontinued by Twitter this year. Though people love visuals on Twitter, the ephemeral nature of Fleets didn’t get the numbers they had hoped. It did bring them lessons, which Twitter hopes to use in the years to come, to develop experiences in sync with the expectations of their users. Looking at other platforms increasing how they leverage vertical video and snackable content, Twitter had launched Fleets almost as a reaction that almost screamed FOMO. However, it simply didn’t work the way Reels and Stories do for Instagram, making the feature redundant enough for the platform to bid it goodbye.
Improving Readability of Threads
Over the last few years, threads have become popular on Twitter. They reflect the collective appetite of users to read long-form content on the platform — as long as it’s interesting. This year, Twitter acquired Threader to improve the thread-reading experience as part of the Reader Moder on Twitter Blue. Available as a native experience on Twitter, Threader will make it easier for users to access a text-focused, distraction, and ad-free reading experience. The Reader Mode transforms long threads into easier-to-read experiences and helps users organize their readings via bookmarks.
Super Follows & Ticketed Spaces
Twitter is trying to create and enhance monetization opportunities on the platform — starting with the users in the US. The endeavors include Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces. While Super Follows enable creators, brands, and publishers to monetize their presence on the platform, Ticketed Spaces are all about making money by holding public discussions in select audio chatrooms. These options aim to facilitate users in supporting and incentivizing content creation by their favorite creators, creating committed committees. In the case of Super Follow, users would get access to a supporter badge, subscriber-only newsletters, exclusive content, and discounts.
All Things Twitter Blue
This year in June, Twitter officially launched Twitter Blue in select countries — a paid subscription service for users access to premium features such as customer support, bookmark folders, reader mode, and more. The idea is to help users get more out of Twitter. One of the most important features of Twitter Blue is that a user can undo a tweet for up to 30 seconds to correct their mistakes. In a far-fetched scenario, it could be a step in the direction where users can delete tweets — something they have been asking the platform to provide them with for years!
Twitter 2021
Here’s a quick look at a month-wise update on Twitter:
January 2021
Revue is acquired to support writers with new editorial features
Twitter launches an Academic Research product track for its API Incomplete or inactive accounts to lose blue verified badge
Birdwatch, a tool to handle misinformation, gets tested
US President gets blocked from the platform for policy violation
Breaker, a social podcast app, is acquired
February 2021
Safety Mode, Timeline Sorting and Communities are announced
Warning prompts for hate speech are relaunched
March 2021
Reshuffle is acquired to improve developer solutions
Conversion settings are introduced for ads
Strike system is introduced for COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
April 2021
Vaccination prompts and Professional Profiles are launched
Twitter introduces Responsible Machine Learning Initiative to improve algorithms
Advertising Product Suit gets rebranded
Twitter Marketing India launches content series highlighting advertising trends
May 2021
Twitter relaunches verification Process
Media organisations are roped in to disseminate information about COVID-19
Uncropped display of single images is introduced for tweets
Prompt encouraging users to rethink hateful replies is launched
Scroll is introduced to enable users to read ad-free articles on the platform
Twitter Spaces to allow accounts above 600 followers to host Audio Space
Birdwatch notifications are launched to highlight the impact of user contribution
June 2021
Razorpay is added to the Tip Jar
Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces are introduced
Twitter develops controls for your mentions on others’ Tweets
Interim Chief Compliance Officer is appointed in India
Twitter Blue, a paid subscription service, is launched officially
Fleet ads are launched for advertisers
July 2021
Shop Module is launched in testing phase
Up & Down votes and Voice Transformer goes into testing
Transparency Center is updated with new data
Twitter partners with Sony Pictures Networks India for cricket content
New premium video ad unit is announced
Account security is strengthened
August 2021
Developers get access to tools to help upgrade Spaces
Direct Message are improved with updates
Mobile app and web are redesigned
Spaces can be held with co-hosts
Fleets is discontinued
Twitter partners with media houses to display credible information
Spaces is revamped with new updates
September 2021
Twitter Official Partner Program is expanded to include more companies
Tips, a monetisation option, is launched
Labeling feature is introduced for automated accounts
Twitter introduces Communities for discussions on shared interests
Safety Mode is launched in beta
October 2021
First iteration of Spaces Recording is rolled out
Subscribing to newsletters is made easy
Sphere is acquired to advance community building
Spaces Spark Program is launched
November 2021
CEO Jack Dorsey resigns
Shopping is introduced in live video streams
Twitter launches API v2 for developer platform
Multi-year partnership with ViacomCBS is announced
Threader is acquired to enhance The Reader Mode
Cryptocurrency and NFT features are developed
New Data Governance Committee is launched
Twitter Blue is updated with new premium features
December 2021
Conversation Prompts, Edge-To-Edge Tweets and Video Captions are rolled out
Explore Tab gets an update and Quill is acquired
Process to report tweets is overhauled with improvements
Private information policy is expanded to include media
Source: Twitter, Social Samosa