As we mentioned earlier in the year, Twitter is somewhat caught between a rock and a hard place.
On the one hand it’s a service used by hundreds of millions of people around the world and has become a controversial, yet effective, means of staying abreast of breaking news. On the other hand, it hasn’t made any money.
After numerous attempts to hike the companies profits through advertising there are now reports that Twitter could be looking at a new model in order to increase its cashflow.
Journalist Andrew Tavani posted images that suggest Twitter is considering ways to monetise Tweetdeck, an app designed for power users of the social site.
According to Tavani’s tweets Twitter is considering charging $19.99 per month for the service that would include tailored analytics, an ad-free experience as well as a whole host of new features that would be exclusive to members.
Considering Twitter is still one of the main outlets for news organisations, media publishers, celebrities and power users it makes sense to offer an experience that feels more tailored to their needs. Of course whether or not they’d be willing to pay for such a service remains to be seen.
In a statement to The Verge a spokesperson for Twitter said: “We’re conducting this survey to assess the interest in a new, more enhanced version of Tweetdeck,”
It doesn’t look as though Twitter has actually started production of this newly enhanced app but is instead simply testing the water.
Twitter has been struggling for some time now to actually convert its millions of users into a profitable business.
In its last financial figures the company announced a loss of around £133m in the last three months of 2016, a considerable increase over its £72m loss during the same period in 2015.