Twitter is bringing its Communities feature to Android four months after it launched on iOS and the web. The social media giant says Android users can now engage in Communities via the Twitter app as long as they’ve updated to the latest version. Once users join their first community, a new Communities tab will appear in their navigation bar.
The feature is designed to make it easier to connect with other users based on shared interests. Users are able to join social hubs and tweet directly to other people with shared interests rather than their regular group of followers. Although those tweets are public, replies are limited to other community members. There are numerous popular communities based on countless topics such as dogs, weather, sneakers, cryptocurrency, astrology and more.
Earlier this month, Twitter detailed its plans to update and expand Communities. The company said that right now, all Communities are either invite-only or open to all. However, Twitter is exploring a “request to join” option where admins and moderators can approve or deny requests. It’s also going to test a “Ranked Timeline” where users will see the top tweets happening in their Communities first, but users will also still have the option to see their timeline in chronological order.
Lastly, Twitter also says it’s working on ways for users to express themselves in their Communities. It’s going to explore a way for moderators to highlight notable content in the communities. Twitter’s also going to test ways for users and moderators to have Q&As with one another.
Twitter’s Communities feature pairs well with its efforts to court creator communities. Over the past year, the company has rolled out its paid subscription feature called Super Follows, Ticketed Spaces for its audio rooms and a one-time payment feature called Tip Jar.