Twitter Spaces is a place where people may have audio chats with one other in real-time through Twitter. It’s the transitory nature of these live audio chats that make them ideal for candid, uncensored debate, and there’s a Space for any subject or conversation, no matter how tiny or private it may be.
After Clubhouse became popular, Twitter introduced Spaces in November 2020 to overtake its version of audio-centric chatrooms. However, Spaces could only be hosted by people with at least 600 followers. It’s been over a year, but Twitter has finally decided to offer every one of its users the option to have their own space. This is a long-overdue luxury. Twitter is running a little behind schedule, given that it promised in April that anybody could create a Space. The Spaces team announced the move through a tweet, adding that Spaces may now be hosted by Android and iOS users alike. There’s even a GIF there that reminds people how to host a Space if they’ve forgotten after so long.
Over the year, Twitter has released a raft of additional Spaces features, including the option to add co-hosts and up to 10 speakers. Ticketed Spaces, also known as audio rooms that charge admission, were trialled as part of the Spark Program, which established a fund for Spaces producers. All of this is done without granting the most critical user rights: the ability to host private rooms.
In July, Clubhouse ceased to be an invite-only service and became available to all users. Twitter is just now removing the limits on hosting rights, which suggests that it may have lost a crucial opportunity to pique user interest in the service. How much faster will Clubhouse die as Spaces develops, or will it be abandoned like the Stories-like Fleets when it’s done?
