14 DAY TRIAL // Super Chirp is a new service from 83 Degrees that will allow popular Twitter users to make money from their tweets. It was bound to happen eventually, one way or another, and in fact it isn't the first service offering similar capabilities but where Super Chirp is different is in the fact that users will be able to keep their old account, unlike competitor Twitpub.
Super Chirp will allow users to get paid for their content by charging a monthly fee. The new service works by making use of Twitter's private message system, direct messages, so the advantage is that publishers will be able to use their existing account. Twitter users interested in the premium tweets will be able to register with Super Chirp, pay a monthly subscription using PayPal, and receive the paid content through the direct messages system. The paid messages can also be viewed and sorted on the Super Chirp site.
The new service should prove successful for a number of categories of Twitter users. The most obvious one is celebrities, who have followers numbering in the millions, a percentage of which might be persuaded to pay for premium content. Even if the percentage is small, the new revenue source could still bring in a nice sum. Of course, users who provide expert information or breaking news covering specific areas could also benefit from the service by charging for some or all of their content.
Publishers interested in the service can sign up with Super Chirp, the only requirement being, obviously, to have a Twitter account. They will be able to set their monthly fee between $0.99 and $9.99 but there are already some who want more freedom when it comes to pricing. The company keeps 30 percent of the revenue and the publishers keep the remaining 70 percent. The danger, of course, as with any third-party service, is that if it becomes successful Twitter might launch its own similar system or at the very best buy this one out.