Twitter is taking voice tweets to the next level with experimental audio chat rooms "focused on the intimacy of the human voice," the company said. Spaces is rolling out initially to a "very small" feedback group, in which members can create virtual digs for followers and other users to chime in.
"The human voice can bring a layer of connectivity to Twitter through emotion, nuance, and empathy often lost in text," the Spaces team wrote in a tweet thread. "Sometimes 280 [characters] isn't enough, and voice gives people another way to join the conversation."
Admins have full control over who can and cannot speak in their Space. Twitter is also testing hand gesture-like reactions, live transcriptions, sharing tweets, and the ability to report and block people.
"Our new experiment brings people together to connect directly in an intimate, conversational space. We imagine the best Spaces to feel like a well-hosted dinner party," the firm said. "At a bomb dinner party, you don't need to know everyone to have a great time, but everyone feels comfortable at the table. We wanted Spaces to have that magic feeling, too."
The feature sounds similar to Clubhouse, an invite-only chatroom app popular among the Silicon Valley crowd. Twitter has been experimenting with voice-based tools already; in June, it introduced "voice tweeting," which lets folks attach audio clips to posts, with the aim to "add a more human touch" to an otherwise visual experience. Apple iOS users can access the feature when composing a tweet; simply type a few lines of text explaining your voice message, then press the "wavelength" icon at the bottom of the screen to begin recording. Each tweet captures up to 140 seconds of audio.
Twitter later apologized for not taking the needs of the visually impaired, deaf, or hard-of-hearing into account when releasing voice tweets. The firm said it fixed "several issues," including making audio posts "identifiable on the timeline."
The company is also working on improving conversational health on the platform. As Mashable reports, Twitter is now testing a new feature known as humanization prompts, which will display the shared interests and mutual followers of the accounts with which you're interacting.