Twitter acquires email service Revue which allows writers to publish newsletters.
The move allows Twitter to tap into its user base of writers, journalists and publishers who regularly use the service to reach readers and grow their audience.
“With a strong community of writers and readers, Twitter is uniquely positioned to help organizations and writers grow their readership faster and on a much larger scale than anywhere else,” explained Twitter product leader Kayvon Beykpour.
“Our goal is to make it easier for them to connect with customers, while helping readers better find their authors and content,” he continued.
Twitter’s acquisition of Revue also puts it in direct competition with Substack, the email newsletter service that has grown in popularity lately.
A number of well-known journalists have even left their traditional media companies to start paid newsletters on Substack.
Substack launched a reader feature for its newsletter service in December, and has promised to take a fairly relaxed approach to content moderation on its service.
The New York Times reported that Twitter even discussed the Substack acquisition in November, but co-founder Hamish McKenzie made it clear that the deal was not going to happen.
Twitter currently makes Revue Pro feature free for all accounts. This is an attempt to attract more writers to Revue.
Revue was originally founded in 2015 in the Netherlands, and has six employees.
Twitter plans to continue operating Revue as a standalone service.
“We will continue to invest in Revue as a self-service, and his team will remain focused on improving the way writers create their newsletters, build their audience and get paid for their work,” said Beykpour.
“Over time, this team will build more experiences finding, reading and having conversations centered on long-form content on Twitter,” he added.
