It’s been in testing for a while, and today, Twitter has provided a new look at its in-development Spaces recording feature, which would add a new level of functionality to its audio social tool.
As you can see here, Twitter’s developing a new, simple ‘Record Space’ toggle, which would enable Spaces hosts to then download an audio file for editing, and re-use beyond the original broadcast itself.
Twitter actually already enables Spaces hosts to download their past broadcasts, but the process is a little clunky. This updated recording and re-purposing feature would help to maximize the value of Spaces broadcasts, which could provide more opportunity for monetization, sponsorship, and longer term audience building with the audio option.
That could also, potentially, open up opportunity for Twitter to let users share their past Spaces on their profile, helping to maximize usage, while Twitter also says that it’s still working on Spaces discovery, a key element in the option’s ongoing growth.
The main tool on this front had appeared to be the dedicated Spaces tab that Twitter is developing, though the recent arrival of Communities seemed to put that in doubt, with the Communities tab taking up the middle space on the bottom of feed bar, where the Spaces tab theoretically would have been.
In some ways, it seemed like Twitter could be looking to instead use Communities to highlight relevant Spaces by topic - but then, some users have since reported seeing this additional variation.
Which, as the tweet notes, seems a little cluttered, and a little odd given Twitter’s past resistance to adding any new tabs.
But I don’t know – maybe all past thinking is out the window in its new development push, and maybe it will go with both, or one. Who knows?
Either way, Spaces discovery remains a key element, and if Twitter can’t get that right, then it’s not going to get the most out of the tool – and that would include both a dedicated display of in-progress broadcasts and algorithmic matching to highlight the most relevant Spaces to each user.
Worth noting, too, that according to TechCrunch, Twitter’s also planning to launch a new Spaces creator fund very soon, as another means to incentivize more Spaces activity.
But back to the point at hand – while it’s not here yet, recorded Spaces are another important functional addition, which could help broadcasters get more value from the option, which could help to both build more initial, and longer term audience.
There are additional privacy considerations to factor in, but if Twitter can make Spaces a more attractive, beneficial offering, it could prompt more broadcasters to lean into the option. And while the initial buzz around audio social has died down somewhat, the real-time nature of Twitter does seem to align with the Spaces option, and it could well be a good fit.
There’s still obviously a lot in development, but Spaces does have promise – so long as Twitter ensures that it’s a more complete and comprehensive offering, directly tied into platform usage, as opposed to a tack-on element.
