Twitter Introduces Tipping: Is the Brave Model Going Global?

Twitter has been on a roll when it comes to introducing new features

In the last few months, Twitter has been on a roll when it comes to introducing new features. It introducedFleets, the option to share tweets, pictures, and video content that is removed after 24 hours, in 2020 as well as voice notes. Earlier this year, Twitter introduced Spaces, which allows Twitter users have live audio conversation rooms with each other. The most recent offering from the social media giant is the Tip Jar, which lets Twitter users tip other Twitter users whose content they find entertaining. 

All these features, once launched, drew comparisons to features already existing on other social media sites and accusations of Twitter committing feature plagiarism. Fleets were dubbed a copy of Instagram’s Story feature, which itself was dubbed a copy of Snapchat’s entire setup when it first launched. Spaces were seen as a way for Twitter to capitalize off the popularity of Clubhouse, a live audio conversation app that was immensely popular in 2020. However, the Tip Jar can draw comparisons not to another social media site but to the world of blockchain, more specifically, the Brave Browser. 

The Brave Model

The Brave Browser is a blockchain-based privacy browser that has been pioneering progressive practices on the internet for years. The browser, by design, does not track user activity, and viewing ads on the browser is opt-in. Should users choose to view ads, they will be rewarded in form of Bravers native basic attention token (BAT). 

Another interesting feature of the Brave browser is that it allows for tipping in form of BAT across multiple social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. If a user is particularly interested or entertained by another user’s posts, they can tip them in BAT; 

How it is Going Global

The last few years have seen content creation on the internet as a legitimate and acceptable form of work and with this, more avenues for the monetization of this content have emerged. From YouTubers making money from sponsored videos and ads to Patreon accounts allowing content creators to receive a steady income for their efforts, paying for content in some way is now the norm.

Brave was ahead of the curve in pushing for ‘smaller’ pieces of content such as tweets and Reddit posts receiving some form of financial compensation and this business model appears to now be going global. It is evident that content rules on the internet and on social media sites are responsible for users coming back day by day. Despite this, a majority of the people who craft the viral tweets or top trending posts do not see any money in return. 

Instead, it is the companies themselves that profit from their efforts. With this new tipping model, however, this is on its way to changing for the better. Over time, tweeting could become a viable career the same way YouTube creation and streaming on Twitch are full-time jobs for some. 

Work Left to be Done

Despite all the possibilities that exist with the Twitter tip jar, the Brave model is far from being fully adopted around the world. One of the main criticisms of the tip jar is that it requires those who are tipping to enter some sensitive information. When a Twitter user opts to tip another user, they have to select from a list of payment options including PayPal and CashApp. When the tippee receives the funds, they can reportedly see the email address and even the physical address of the sender. 

Considering that the Brave model is built on a foundation of privacy and Twitter itself has had its criticisms relating to its use of user data, there is still clearly some work to be done. 

Conclusion

While it has not been perfectly executed just yet, Twitter’s new feature shows that the Brave Browser has successfully made the case for the compensation of micro-content creators. Hopefully, more platforms adopt this practice and more creators reap the benefits.

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