Spaces Recordings, a feature that will allow hosts to share tweets with audio recordings of past Spaces, has been in the works at Twitter for some time. Hosts will be able to view how many people joined live and replayed the recording after they’ve shared the recordings.
The long-awaited functionality will remain in closed testing for a little longer, according to Twitter, but they’ve increased the test group several times since launch. It’s unclear when this feature will be available on a wider scale.
Users in the live space will see a “Rec” button with a red dot next to it when a Space is being recorded. If the recording is shared later by the host, they may change the beginning time so that future listeners are not subjected to minutes of dead air if the Space did not begin immediately. Users can witness who’s talking and who was there in a recorded Space, much like a real one.
These capabilities are beneficial to listeners because they allow them to engage with material that they may otherwise miss from their favorite hosts. However, for the hosts themselves, this replay function makes it easier to build a following. In November, Clubhouse introduced Replay, which also offers users the ability to download audio and modify it as a podcast if they choose.Since June, users have been able to download their audio files from Spaces for the previous 30 days.
Twitter Spaces has become a mainstay of the network, with even the mobile app’s core tab being devoted to it. However, the live audio function has had its share of issues. Twitter Spaces users have lately complained about receiving blatantly hazardous material — including spaces with racist names that remained on their feeds after being reported. Other live audio apps, such as Clubhouse, have also struggled with hate speech moderation. Twitter has yet to provide information about whether or how its space moderation will be expanded beyond its current reporting capabilities.
“We’re exploring more proactive detection and working on evaluating and developing new moderation options,” a Twitter spokesperson told. “Spaces is an iterative product and as more people use it, we’ll continue to learn, thoughtfully listen and make improvements based on feedback.”
