Has Twitter Been Bitten by the Podcast Bug too?

Have you heard the latest news in social media revelations? Twitter may be joining the podcast bandwagon and introducing a podcast tab on its mobile app!

If you’re an avid Twitter user,  you are already most likely familiar with the recent Twitter feature called ‘Spaces’, where multiple people from all over the world can join a live discussion happening on Twitter.

This was the closest the app had come to having podcast facilities because users began specifically using the feature to have open discussions on an array of topics whilst also sometimes allowing speakers to add to the conversation. These conversations could then be recorded for people who missed the Space to listen at a later time – much like a podcast. 

It is, however, important to note that Twitter is a microblogging and social networking app that has over 76 Million users. While this statistic is no doubt impressive, it also begs the question:

What makes Twitter more relevant than other social media apps? Well, the answer is pretty simple. It is the speed at which information can circulate and form a ‘trend’ on the app, garnering millions of readers and engaged accounts.

On Twitter, a trend is a topic that is currently being spoken about the most on the platform, for example; currently, there is a war going on in Ukraine and Russia, and as such, the trends list consists of words like Ukraine, Russia, Putin, and NATO etc.

Generally, as soon as news breaks, it can go viral within a matter of minutes, given the sharing capabilities of Twitter, with much of its trending successes having to do with the app’s use of retweets (RT) and likes. 

How does all of this benefit you as a podcaster or an upcoming podcaster? 

Firstly, if your podcast is engaging, dynamic and relevant, all it could take is one RT for your podcast to completely blow up and begin trending! And if it does, listeners don’t have to leave the app to listen to you; they can simply go to the podcast tab and access your podcast hassle-free.

They can also further engage with your podcast in real-time by live-tweeting about your podcast while listening to it, which could attract other users to join in on the conversation. Twitter users are known globally for always wanting to be a part of the most recent conversations, which offers you a unique opportunity to have your podcast topic be a topic of discourse on the latest trends. 

Twitter has also been incorporating monetization options, and so far, the two options are ‘ticketed spaces’ where users pay to listen to the spaces you host and ‘Super Follows’, which is still in the developmental stages. There is, however, a tipping tab that has been introduced where you can link your Patreon account and get tips from your users. 

With all of that being said, there isn’t much more information about the podcast tab having any ad or monetization features. Still, with the existing monetization features, there is a possibility to make this a serious side hustle. 

The most important benefit of this feature is that African Podcasters, as a collective, can work together to make sure that African stories, African experiences and African histories are made viral and accessible to the rest of the world.

If a community of podcasters can agree to engage in other podcasts on Twitter, it is possible to architect and generate enough tweets to make the podcasts go viral every week or every month. This opens up many opportunities for African Podcasters to put their stories on the global trends list.

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