Alongside the global rollout of Fleets, Twitter teased its upcoming audio chatrooms dubbed Spaces. The company has now started beta testing the feature with a ‘very small feedback group’ on iOS.
Twitter has created a dedicated account for Spaces (linked below). Through this account, the company promises to share updates and insights into its audio-based chatrooms. The account currently has a thread sharing the current status of the feature.
aye we’re live! what up y’all, we're the team behind Spaces––a small experiment focused on the intimacy of the human voice🧵
— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) December 17, 2020
With Spaces, users can create audio-only chatrooms that followers and other Twitter users can choose to join. Twitter says that Space creators will have full control over who can or cannot speak in the chatroom. To prevent abuse, Twitter is also bundling moderation features including reporting and blocking within Spaces.
As TechCrunch reports, you can either press and hold the compose button or access the Fleets page to create a Space. Creators can then invite people through DMs and invite links. Participants have the option to join as a speaker or a listener.
In an attempt to reduce confusion caused when multiple people speak at the same time, Twitter is offering the option to react using emojis. The reactions in question include the 100 (?), raised hand (✋?), raised fist (✊?), victory/peace sign (✌?), and a waving hand (??). You can check out what these features will look like right here:
Twitter is internally testing Audio Spaces Beta, here’s another look:
– Uses Periscope as backend
– Reactions: 💯✋✊✌️👋
– “Who can speak” can be adjusted in the middle
– Transcriptions available
– Spaces can be reported
– “Share feedback” sends DM to @TwitterSpaces pic.twitter.com/hbyiJuEWw5
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) November 28, 2020
Apart from these features, Twitter is also testing an early version of live transcription with this private beta. Offering live transcription is a subtle yet useful move towards improving the accessibility of the feature.
Since the private beta is focused on iOS, it is safe to assume that Spaces will first come to Twitter’s iOS app before making its way to Android and hopefully on the web in the future. So, are you excited to try out Spaces? Let us know in the comments.
