In an attempt to come up with the next biggest social connection “thing”, Twitter ‘Communities’ has, unfortunately, not yet caught on. But, like a badly written report, Twitter continues to revise the format in hopes that ‘Twitter Groups’ would one day find their place in digital history.
That time might be a step closer as Twitter recently announced its acquisition of Chat App Sphere, a somewhat popular alternative group-messaging app founded in 2016. Twitter saw potential in the app to help create stronger traction for its ‘Communities’ project. It’s actually a rather logical move since Sphere is built around group messaging and community chats. It’s designed in such a way to boost relevant engagement that’s localized within individual groups and aids in building bonds.
Enter The Sphere
Among the key features of Sphere, and possibly the most contributing to the project, is its ‘Zen Flow’ system, which basically teaches users to perfect control over their Qi, therefore gradually achieving a perfect state of awareness- Kidding aside, ‘Zen Flow’ essentially highlights each member’s most relevant group chat elements, while ‘Appreciations’ are tools and a set of community stickers that enable people to recognize top contributors – call it an incentive system of sorts.
As per Sphere:
“Our feed automatically clears out old or irrelevant chats to prevent groups from feeling chaotic. Our chats call out essential messages (like polls, events, and announcements) and make it more likely for people to respond. Our custom appreciations encourage people to express genuine gratitude.”
While the group chat offerings sound very much like any other conventional group messaging function, what particular value Sphere provides lies in its discussion-highlighting algorithms. The algorithm showcases the most relevant elements to each user and the incentive tools that accompany it may yet help improve Twitter’s ‘Communities’ offers.
The Wrap
The idea behind Twitter ‘Communities’ does make sense, however, its practical value is quite limited. By now, most Twitter users would have already curated their personal Tweet communities based on those that they follow. Furthermore, limiting your Tweet reach and engagement via exclusive ‘Communities’ posting doesn’t exactly sound appealing to users. It’s good for closely-knit groups and for holding deeper private conversations, but its broader scope, at least for now, is quite lackluster.
As it stands, Twitter’s ‘Communities’ isn’t fully ‘inclusive’ yet, something that Sphere’s advanced algorithms can potentially remedy. If Twitter can somehow integrate some of Sphere’s engagement and recognition prompts, then ‘Communities’ could yet still be vibrant and lively. In an attempt to further expand its offerings and become a more comprehensive connection tool, Twitter has also acquired Revue, a newsletter platform, and Scroll, a web reader platform in January and May respectively. While ‘Communities’ progress may seem “intermittent” at best, Twitter is definitely making some headway, at least, given all of its acquisitions.
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