San Francisco (AFP)
Twitter on Thursday introduced "Tip Jar" (the "tip box"), a new tool for social network users to donate to their favorite creators.
"This is the first step in our plan to create new ways to give and receive support on Twitter - with money," the California-based company said in a statement.
For now, only a limited group of people, content creators, journalists, experts and NGOs, can add a "Tip Jar" to their profile.
But all English-speaking users can pay their contribution.
"You are the one leading the conversation on Twitter and we want you to be able to more easily support each other beyond Follows, Retweets, and Likes," the options for sharing and enjoying messages, said the group.
The new button will offer to pay through services like Patreon, PayPal or Venmo.
Twitter will not take a commission.
The social network wants to diversify its sources of income beyond advertising and monetization options in order to retain influencers.
In particular, it is preparing the launch of paid subscriptions for users' favorite accounts, with advantages and privileges for subscribers.
The platform published weaker-than-expected results last week.
The number of so-called "monetizable" daily users (having been exposed to at least one advertisement on a given day) stood at 199 million in the first quarter, or 1 million less than analysts' forecasts.
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