Twitter is rolling out a new way for those who create video on Periscope to make some money for their efforts.
Twitter is giving Periscope creators a chance to make a little money
Twitter, though, probably won’t make much of anything.
Aitor Alcalde / Getty
The company on Wednesday announced that Periscope will now offer something called “super hearts,” which is essentially a way for viewers to tip a Periscope creator by sending them a virtual heart that the user paid for with real cash.
Once creators accumulate $175 worth of these super hearts, they can then cash out the digital goods for cash. Twitter says that creators will receive about 70 percent of the actual value of those virtual goods, with the other 30 percent going to things like fees and payment processing.
It’s unclear if any of those fees are going to Twitter, but a person familiar with the company’s plans says that this won’t be a big revenue product for the company.
Still, Twitter ultimately shuttered Vine because it failed to pay its creators, who started to bring their audiences to other platforms like Instagram and YouTube. It likely doesn’t want to do the same with Periscope, though it’s unclear how many creators are using the service on a daily or even monthly basis. Perhaps, now that there is a way to make money broadcasting on Periscope, some creators will use that over other alternatives, like Facebook live.
Virtual goods are a popular business model for other livestreaming apps, particularly in Asia. The idea of paying a creator on the spot for live content could get tricky though when you consider there may be opportunities for people to stream explicit content in exchange for cash.
Twitter says it has a solution. In order to receive super hearts, a creator has to go through a content review process and fill out tax forms.
“If anyone violates the community guidelines at any time, they would be removed from Periscope and as a result also the program where they could cash out,” a spokesperson said.
The new program is only available in the U.S. for now, and is live as part of an app update to Periscope on iOS and Android.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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