As the company continues to consider all avenues for monetization, Twitter is gauging user interest in an advanced, paid version of TweetDeck, which would include a range of new tools and features.
As you can see, the advanced version would incorporate analytics tracking, trending data, alerts and more. The new version would likely work on a monthly subscription basis.
How much additional insight they'd actually provide is the key question. Twitter already monetizes their data through Gnip, which reportedly costs between $300 to $4000 per month, depending on what level of data access you require. Given this, you'd think they wouldn't be looking to cannibalize their own revenue potential by offering too much data through this option, but then again, maybe there's a way to limit full access while giving you enough of a taste to make it functional - which they could do by highlighting trends and the like.
At present, your options for streams in TweetDeck are mostly limited to search related queries.
These can be hugely valuable when used the right way, but the suggested new options would provide a whole new range of possibilities.
Twitter, in a note shared with some users, has also said that the new TweetDeck:
"...would also offer extra features such as advanced audience insights & analytics, tools to monitor multiple timelines from multiple accounts and from multiple devices, including mobile, all in an ad-free experience."
In addition, they may also, according to reports, look to incorporate the ability to bookmark content for later, provide insight into who checked out your profile, unfollower tracking, an option to import user lists and priority customer support access.
There are some interesting considerations here - information is fairly limited on how it would actually work, or the potential costs, but the fact that Twitter is even considering such changes is a positive sign, particularly when you consider the platform's recent difficulties.
One of the more frustrating aspects of seeing Twitter's market declines has been the fact that Twitter itself is so essential, that even the President relies on the platform to communicate direct with his citizens. Given its relevance, and its place in our communicative process, it seems like Twitter has to be able to make money - there must be away for the platform to capitalize on the attention and interest and thrive, right?
This is ever further exacerbated when you look at the amount of third party tools and apps that are built on the back of Twitter - the network itself is fueling a whole industry that feeds on its data, while Twitter itself is coming under more and more pressure to produce more revenue positive programs.
Maybe, if they can make TweetDeck a better option, that'll inspire more users to switch across from external scheduling and management apps and make them come to Twitter direct, boosting both engagement and monetization potential.
Twitter also needs more avenues to showcase the potential of its data - research has shown that Tweet data can help predict flu outbreaks, warn of pending flood damage, there's any number of ways that Twitter insight is being used for predictive and forecasting purposes. Such capacity is hugely valuable - if Twitter can highlight more ways to actually utilize their platform to harness relevant trends, especially those of importance to specific businesses and sectors, that would be a big step in the right direction.
As noted, there's not a lot of information to go on right now, but Twitter is considering its options on this front - which is a good thing.
We'll keep you updated on any further developments.