Tara
Twitter is rolling out its Instagram Stories-like feature, giving users new options to create content that only exists for 24 hours.
The ‘Fleets’ feature emulates the Stories and Snapchat model, encouraging users to post content in a “lower pressure way”, according to a statement on the social media platform’s blog.
Spaces is another new Twitter feature – full launch date TBC – that lets users join virtual rooms where they can engage in real-time, audio conversations with others. Voice messaging in direct messages and live broadcasting via Fleets is also on its way.
It appears that these features are Twitter’s way of catching up with Instagram’s holistic offering for content creators: from Stories to Reels to voice-enabled DMs, etc etc.
But, crucially, the difference here is that Twitter is way more tolerant of adult content creators than Instagram or Facebook. In fact, its terms on explicit material specifically say it’s allowed:
“Pornography and other forms of consensually produced adult content are allowed on Twitter, provided that this media is marked as sensitive. Doing so provides people who may not want to see this type of content with a warning that they will need to acknowledge before viewing your media.”
A good thing for adult creators?
All of this brings up some potentially lucrative opportunities for adult content creators using Twitter to build their fanbase. In theory, the more features a platform has, the higher the level of potential engagement. More content possibilities could mean more redirects from followers to paid-for platforms such as OnlyFans and other subscription sites.
Twitter describes Fleets as “personal in-the-moment thoughts with your followers, free of public reactions”. This more select audience potentially reduces the risk of unwanted engagement with content of a more ‘private’ nature. What’s more, personable interaction with followers help build up online presence, and if these private ‘Spaces’ work as they’re planned to, they could create the intimate environment that followers of adult creators enjoy (and would pay money for).
The new features could also see audio porn surge in popularity, as adult creators could ‘tease’ followers via personal DM messages and link them to paid-for audio porn commodities.
Fleeting (dis)advantages
The main issue with introducing different mediums in which to share content is the realistic capabilities Twitter HQ has in moderating what’s shared. We’re not talking about the initial posts – Twitter happily allows users to share nude photos, for example, often with a sensitive content warning – but rather the types of replies they could elicit, especially if these conversations are shut away in private ‘Spaces’.
At the moment, users can choose to Hide Replies from non-followers or even stop them replying altogether. However, this doesn’t always work out, and would be very tricky to moderate with the list of brand-new features (some users have already reported that blocked accounts can see your Fleets via the new feature).
And this is where adult content-tolerant Twitter falls short: while safety is always an issue with mainstream social media sites, Twitter doesn’t exactly have a gold-standard reporting procedure for problems encountered by users.
Perhaps it should focus more on ironing out these primary problems – to prevent harassment and abuse from the outset – before introducing several more ways in which trollers can target already-vulnerable adult creators.
Read Next: Aural sex: Is audio porn the next big thing in adult content, or destined for censorship?
