With Twitter users flooding Spaces, social media interaction seems to be levelling up.
Twitter Spaces is a new feature added by the social media app, allowing users to have live audio conversations. This has seen key socio-economic and political matters being addressed in depth by users.
A twitter user sharing her feelings after the #SafeSpacesWithSisGugu
When you hear or see something is trending, it comes to your mind to first check what people on Twitter are saying about it. South African Twitter users are now using the Spaces feature to dig a bit deeper than following a hashtag allows.
Twitter Spaces are public and anyone can join either as a speaker or a listener. There is no limit to the number of people who can join a Space. The conversations under Spaces are completely uncensored and not restricted by time, unlike Instagram and Facebook live.
Twitter transitioned from using the Periscope feature that broadcast live videos, to creating the audio only feature that consumes less data. Spaces still maintain Periscope’s objective of real time engagement.
Organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) have hosted Spaces, most recently on World Immunisation Week 2021. Twitter users had the opportunity to engage directly with experts in the field of immunology and have them dispel myths around the covid-19 vaccine.
A Space held by Gugu Ndabezitha, a popular traditional healer, was trending as #SafeSpaceWithSisGugu. The Space had over 1200 listeners. One listener tweeted that he thinks Gugu’s Spaces are genuine and make him realise that he is not alone in battling struggles and past traumas.
Lerato Mthisi who was also part of Ndabezitha’s Space mentioned that Ndabezitha’s Space was nurturing and empathetic: “She really meant safe space, there was no form of judging and criticism,” Mthisi tweeted.
According to a tweet by the official Twitter Space account, upgrades to the feature are afoot, such as allowing sessions to be recorded and users being able to search for live and upcoming spaces by title or host.
FEATURE IMAGE: A smartphone displaying the Twitter logo. Photo: Alfonso Nqunjana
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