Twitter plans to shut down its newsletter platform Revue and delete all related data on January 18, 2023, after acquiring the company in January 2021
EngadgetIgor Bonifacic
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter's acquisition of Revue in January 2021 was a small bet — a six-employee Dutch startup that had raised ~$318K — aimed at pulling newsletter publishing onto the platform. By mid-2021 it had wired Revue into profiles via a subscribe button that gave Twitter a 5% cut, part of a broader creator push that also absorbed Scroll's ad-free reading service into Twitter Blue.
The retreat began before the confirmation: sources reported in November 2022 that Revue would be shut by year-end alongside paused work on Notes and a crypto wallet, and the Scroll wind-down in late 2021 already showed acquired products being folded away rather than scaled. What changed today is the date and the harder edge — not just shutting Revue but deleting all related data on January 18, 2023.
First-order effects
Newsletter writers hosting lists and archives on Revue lose their platform and their data on January 18, 2023, forcing an immediate migration of subscriber files off Twitter's infrastructure.
Twitter exits the newsletter business outright, abandoning the 5% take rate it built into profile subscribe buttons and ending its direct competitor position against standalone newsletter platforms.
Second-order effects
Standalone newsletter platforms become the default landing spot for displaced Revue writers, capturing the audiences and subscription relationships Twitter spent 2021 trying to keep on-platform.
The deletion of all related data — rather than export-and-archive — raises the switching cost of any remaining Twitter-integrated creator tooling, pressuring creators to treat platform-native features as disposable.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds — Scroll folded into Blue, Notes and the crypto wallet paused, Revue deleted — Twitter under new ownership is systematically unwinding acquired creator products, shifting the durable home for writer-audience relationships to independent platforms outside any single social network.
Hard-delete sunsets set a precedent for how the platform disposes of user-generated assets during product cuts, a practice regulators and creator communities may scrutinize as more services are retired.
The trend: Twitter is pruning its acquired creator-economy bets one by one, ceding newsletter and ad-free-reading territory back to independent platforms while consolidating around core advertising and subscription revenue.
If you're a Revue writer looking for a new home for your publication, we'd love to have you on Substack. You can import your mailing list, writing archive, and Stripe payment information from Revue with one click here: https://substack.com/revue https://twitter.com/...
If anyone ever wants to compare Meta/Facebook and Twitter, these anecdotes are really important. Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp and has only made them bigger (ignore Oculus, the tech is still too niche). Twitter's acquired things and driven them into the ground.
I know this is (likely) an Elon acquisition-related budget cut. But I'm sort of surprised by how good Twitter is at acquiring otherwise functional tech, not properly marketing or servicing it, and then killing it when it fails. Revue joins Vine, Periscope, and others. https://twi…
Barely two days after EIon announced he's interested in buying Substack, Twitter shut down the newsletter product they acquired last year 🤷🏻♀️ https://twitter.com/...
Oh great, Twitter is shutting down Revue, the newsletter app, which it bought in 2021. Yet another crappy thing that happened since Elon became CEO. I'm a Revue user. Thanks, Elon. https://techcrunch.com/...
Hey @elonmusk . Shutting down revue ... I like the little subscribe button on my profile. Can I keep it but link it directly to @beehiiv . I imagine a lot of big Twitter accounts will want the same https://twitter.com/...
BREAKING: Twitter shuts down Revue, its newsletter platform. All paid subscriptions will cancel at the end of their billing cycle to prevent subscribers being charged after it is no longer possible to send newsletters from Revue.
Let's be honest, Substack and Medium have won this war. Meta is shutting its newsletter portal as well. Twitter shuts down Revue, its newsletter platform https://techcrunch.com/... via @techcrunch
And that, as they say, was that. Twitter shutting down Revue and that ends the NorthCast on Twitter. Way to improve Twitter without offering an alternative. Sorry folks. I will find another way next year. In the meantime thx for everyone who found these video letters of help. htt…
Looks like it was a good decision to move away from Revue for newsletters. Revue shutting down January 18, 2023 Ironically, their announcement email went to my spam folder 🫠 If you're looking where to move, go to @beehiiv https://twitter.com/...
Shame to see @Revue close. In fact, they no longer have any tweets on their account. I believe caused in part, by the current changes on this platform. I moved my newsletter to @SubstackInc a month ago - glad I did! https://twitter.com/...
If you're leaving Revue today, consider your next platform carefully: - is it a free product? - is it created by a funded startup? - is the software closed/proprietary? If “yes” — There's a pretty good chance it's going to shut down in a few years. Just like the ones before it.
Twitter confirms its newsletter platform Revue will shut down on 18 January. You can download your newsletter data until that date. https://twitter.com/...