Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The number of articles still coming from Twitter’s algorithms is likely to decline
Twitter is to launch a new ad-free subscription service on its mobile app.
Users will be able to pay $1.99 a month or $79.99 a year to access tweets, trends, trends and events without ads or tweets from accounts they follow.
Ad-free reading will not apply to tweets from anyone they follow and they will still see tweets from that account.
Twitter says it will phase in the new service from October.
It will be launched in the US and Australia, but will continue to roll out globally over the next few months.
@Alex_Hhr and I are so excited to finally use Twitter. Going back to a Twitter where I only see my own tweets is super important to me. pic.twitter.com/tSRuv5dX27 — Linda (@lindashero) September 24, 2018
Twitter has long encouraged its users to follow specific accounts and increase the size of their following to encourage engagement, such as retweeting or following tweets.
The number of articles still coming from Twitter’s algorithms is likely to decline, but the company says that as long as users can still follow trends and accounts they follow, advertisers will be able to use trending hashtags to reach out to new potential customers.
It is still possible for advertisers to target people who are following those accounts but not users who have more than 200 followers – a highly popular figure on Twitter.
“These shifts will help Twitter continue to evolve and become a source of real-time public conversation, where we can be even more important to our users, giving them new ways to connect,” said Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive.
“We believe there is a lot of potential to reimagine every aspect of our product in a way that serves our public service and our community well,” he added.
What is being changed?
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Now people can access fewer tweets from accounts they follow – but the number of articles coming from Twitter’s algorithms will fall too
Twitter says its Ad-Free option will have fewer ads than the company’s existing Periscope version, which costs £1.49 a month in the UK.
The monthly fee comes with a limit of 20 free tweets per day, and a “permissable limit” for accounts and their followers.
Longer tweet drafts will not count towards the 20 per day limit.
The Ad-Free plan is still being rolled out in Australia and the US.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The cost of the new subscription – $1.99 a month or $79.99 a year – will be deducted from the monthly fee users currently pay for access to tweets
Tell us what you think
Subscribe to the BBC on iTunes and Android
Or give us a listen on your mobile or desktop browser
Leave a Comment