Twitter is testing a new feature called Tip Jar, to send money to your favorite accounts.
Twitter has started rolling out a new Tip Jar feature on its Android and iOS apps, which will allow users to send money directly to their favorite accounts.
To use the virtual ‘tip jar’, simply tap the newly added dollar bill icon next to someone’s username when viewing their profile on any of Twitter’s mobile apps. Users will also be able to enable the tip jar feature (for people or organizations that don’t want people to just send them money out of the blue). Android users will also be able to send money to the Clubhouse-like spaces of Twitter.
Tip Jar supports a variety of payment options and links: Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, Paypal, and Venmo. Twitter uses these services’ external payment processors for transactions; it doesn’t take a cut. All English Twitter users can send money from now on, but only a select group (including “creators, journalists, experts and associations”) can activate the feature to accept money at this time.
show your love, leave a tip
now testing Tip Jar, a new way to give and receive money on Twitter ????
more coming soon… pic.twitter.com/7vyCzlRIFc
— Twitter (@Twitter) May 6, 2021
The only way to access Tip Jar at the moment is to access a user’s profile. This means that sending someone money for a truly fantastic tweet will take a little more effort than, say, just liking or retweeting them.
There are already a few issues that Twitter will need to fix. As has been noted, sending tips through Paypal using Tip Jar currently allows anyone who receives money to see the sender’s address, which is a worrying security concern that Twitter and Paypal will hopefully resolve soon.
Huge heads up on PayPal Twitter Tip Jar. If you send a person a tip using PayPal, when the receiver opens up the receipt from the tip you sent, they get your *address*. Just tested to confirm by tipping @yashar on Twitter w/ PayPal and he did in fact get my address I tipped him. https://t.co/R4NvaXRdlZ pic.twitter.com/r8UyJpNCxu
— Rachel Tobac (@RachelTobac) May 6, 2021
In an update later Thursday, Twitter’s support account acknowledged the problem, tweeting that it was “updating our tip prompt and help center to make it clearer that other apps can. share information between those sending / receiving advice, in accordance with their terms ”.
Twitter also promised that there will be “more to come soon,” so it’s likely we’ll continue to learn more about how Twitter implements tipping in the weeks and months to come.
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