Twitter is integrating podcasts into the new Spaces Tab in the Twitter app for Android and iOS. In a blog post, the social media platform said it will be testing the redesigned Spaces Tab on a group of random users worldwide starting today, but only in English.
The revamped Spaces Tab groups podcasts and other audio content together into hubs based on category. Podcasts are Spaces’ new star, and there are audio stations themed around different topics — music, news, sports, entertainment, travel, etc. — all personalized by an algorithm for different users to listen to based on who they follow on Twitter and what topics interest them.
Twitter decided to integrate podcasts into Spaces after conducting an internal study that found that 45% of people who use Twitter in the U.S. also listen to podcasts on a monthly basis.
Ray Chao, general manager of audio at Vox, said the company is excited that Twitter is giving its listeners the ability to hear its podcasts outside of the aforementioned audio streaming services.
“Vox Media has a rich array of popular podcasts across many categories, and we’re thrilled that Twitter is expanding its audio capabilities to help more listeners discover them,” Chao said. “Whether it’s Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s Pivot, our daily news explainer Today, Explained, or Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara, we’re excited Twitter is offering users and podcast fans an exciting new frontier.”
good news, today we’re starting to test a new Spaces Tab
even better news, it includes podcasts, themed audio stations, and (of course) recorded + live Spaces pic.twitter.com/TGS2aVsUI1
— Spaces (@XSpaces) August 25, 2022
Users can customize their podcast listening experience on Spaces further by giving a podcast a thumbs-up or thumbs-down depending on their level of interest in the content. The system is similar to Pandora, which allows listeners to vote songs up or down depending on if the music genre or artist they’re listening to suits their interests or not. In this case, Twitter is giving users the power to determine whether or not the content of the podcast they’re hearing is interesting to them.
Twitter launched Spaces in November 2020, following the success that Facebook’s Clubhouse gained during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, only Twitter users with 600 or more followers were allowed to host a Space or listen in. One year later, Twitter allowed people without an account to access Spaces — even on the web browser version. Now Spaces is getting reworked to also function as a podcast platform.
