Twitter Spaces – A guide for Professionals, Parents and Carers

Recently, Twitter has released a new feature called Twitter Spaces. Twitter Spaces allow users to have live conversations with other users online. Find out what features Twitter Spaces provides as well as see what considerations there are for professionals, parents, and carers around using it.

Spaces allows Twitter users to create ‘Spaces’ to start audio conversations with a public audience. If a user hosted a Twitter Space, their followers, as well as other online users would be able to join the Space and be able to listen to them speak. Listeners are also able to request permission to speak in a Twitter Space and join in as part of the discussion.

Twitter Spaces are not just reserved to a user’s followers.  Hosts are able to share links to a Space and connect with other people online, regardless of whether they have a Twitter account or not. Hosts are also able to invite listeners in the Space to speak and join them as a co-host if they wish to broaden the discussion.  

Hosts are able to record the Space, which makes it shareable and available after the Space finishes. There is also a clipping feature available on IOS and Android allowing hosts and listeners to clip a 30-second section of the Space. Hosts and listeners will then be able share the clip out separately via a tweet or link. This host can disable the clipping feature if this feature is not needed.

To find out how you can setup a Space there is information in this article from the Twitter help centre.

Twitter Spaces is a much more public feature for the social media platform. With potential to reach a much wider audience, there is the potential to experience and come across different types of online harm. To respond to this, Twitter has included reporting and blocking features to manage some of these risks, which are available to the host as well as the listeners.

If someone is hosting a Twitter Space and has concerns about a particular listener, they are able to remove them from the Space as well as block or report them if necessary. The hosts have control over who has access to speak and importantly, no one without permission can speak to the group. If someone is speaking and there are any concerns, hosts are able to mute any speaker from their device.

If there is any harmful or offensive material being heard on a Space, listeners can report it direct to Twitter if they feel it is going against the community guidelines as well as the profile that is hosting it if required. Find out how to report Spaces and profiles, in this article Twitter help centre.

Bringing audio conversations into Twitter has extended how users can engage with one another. Twitter Spaces can be a place to spread positivity and can play host to informative discussions and awareness.

Due to the wider reach it can potentially provide, those who are involved in a Twitter Space must be aware of how far a Twitter Space can go. Be cautious that a Space can reach people who you may not know and be sure about what you are hoping to share with focus on protecting your privacy.

It is important that you know how to block and report in a Space, and that you use these features if you are concerned about members within the Space and do not feel pressured to give speaking permissions to those who request it. Twitter Spaces can allow users to spread positive messages through audio discussions with an audience. If you are part of a Twitter Space whether as a host or listener and feel uncomfortable at any point, leave the Space and report the behaviour. If you want to find out more about privacy and security settings on Twitter, make sure you download the Twitter checklist from our partners at SWGfL.