(NEW YORK) — Twitter is expanding its platform to include podcasts, the tech company said in a statement on Thursday.
Starting Thursday, Twitter will begin incorporating podcasts into its redesigned Spaces tab, an extension of its app that allows people to have live audio conversions, the company said.
According to a statement from Twitter, the newest addition has become available to “a group of global English-speaking audience on iOS and Android.”
It’s not yet clear when the tab will be fully rolled out.
The tech company said the new extension to include podcasts will allow users to have conversations past its 280 written character limit and will bring “people closer to the ideas, content, and creators they know and love is core to Twitter no matter where the conversations take place.”
According to Twitter’s statement, the new tab will introduce personalized “hubs” that group audio content together based on its genre, like news, music or sports.
These hubs will allow users to have easy access to a more personalized selection of live and recorded “Spaces” that discuss topics that matter to them.
These hubs will link the existing Spaces audio content with popular podcasts, Twitter said.
According to their statement, Twitter’s internal research indicates 45% of people who use Twitter in the U.S. also listen to podcasts monthly. In this new move, Twitter aims to readily suggest podcasts to users that they can listen to directly on the app.
Vox Media has partnered with Twitter to showcase their podcasts on the new extension.
“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,” said Ray Chao, general manager of audio at Vox Media, said in Twitter’s statement.
The company’s new move comes just days after Twitter’s former head of security, Peiter Zatko, alleged in a whistleblower federal complaint last month that the social media giant had numerous wide-ranging information security system lapses, according to a copy of the complaint made public on Tuesday.
In response, Twitter said Zatko was spreading a “false narrative about Twitter” and was fired for “ineffective leadership and poor performance.” The company also said Zatko’s public remarks are “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context.”
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