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Twitter hints at future subscription service in job listing

The forthcoming subscription product is expected to be incorporated into Twitter's video services, a source said.

The forthcoming subscription product is expected to be incorporated into Twitter's video services, a source said.

(Logo: Twitter/Handout, Graphic: The Desk)

Twitter is working on a new subscription-based product that could be used within the social media platform or sold to third parties, according to a job listing spotted by The Desk on Wednesday.

The listing seeks applications for a full-stack software engineer position within an internal team called Gryphon. The team is working on a payment and subscription feature that “can be reused by other [Twitter] teams in the future.”

The job listing was amended shortly after it was discovered Wednesday morning. The amended job listing removed mentions of the internal team and the subscription feature, saying instead that Twitter was looking for an engineer familiar with the Android operating system (the edits were rolled back and the job listing restored to its original state late Wednesday afternoon).

A second job listing posted by Twitter’s London office sought a contract engineer for a similar role to work with the company’s development team to “rebuild some of Twitter’s services to produce a subscription management platform.”

Both job listings offered little information about what the subscription feature would look like or how it would be used by Twitter, but a source familiar with Twitter’s plans said the forthcoming subscription management tool is closely aligned with streaming video. Twitter currently allows users to stream video through its platform by way of Periscope, a separate application.


As of 1 p.m. Eastern Time, Twitter’s stock price was up between 11 and 12 percent.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is an award-winning journalist with more than 10 years of experience covering the business of television and radio broadcasting, streaming services and the overall media industry. In addition to his work as publisher of The Desk, Matthew contributes regularly to StreamTV Insider and KnowTechie, and has worked for several well-known news organizations, including Thomson Reuters, McNaughton Newspapers, Grasswire, Comstock's magazine, KTXL-TV and KGO-TV. Matthew is a member of IRE, a trade organization for investigative reporters and editors, and is based in Northern California.

Email: [email protected] | Signal: 530-507-8380