Twitter introduces Tip Jar, allowing everyone using Twitter in English to send tips, and a limited group, including journalists and experts, to accept tips

We $ee you - sharing your PayPal link after your Tweet goes viral, adding your $Cashtag to your profile so people can support your work …

Twitter 2021-05-07 Esther Crawford

Context & Ripple Effects

Tip Jar begins as a limited monetization tool for selected accounts, but the follow-on coverage shows Twitter steadily widening the payment rails: global iOS availability and bitcoin tips arrived later, followed by added ethereum-address and regional-payment support.

The launch also exposed a trust constraint in its payment-provider design: reports that PayPal tips could disclose contact details prompted Twitter to say it would add a label. That makes payment transparency as consequential as adding new tip methods.

First-order effects

English-language Twitter users can send money to a selected group of journalists, experts, and other eligible recipients, creating a direct support channel tied to their profiles.
Eligible recipients using PayPal face an immediate privacy consideration because the payment flow may reveal information to the other party, according to subsequent coverage.

Second-order effects

Twitter must balance broader tip availability with clearer disclosures and payment choices; its later Strike integration and added crypto and regional options show that the initial provider set did not define the product.
PayPal becomes one of several ways creators can receive support rather than the sole payment layer, reducing the value of a Twitter-native tipping feature that depends on any single provider.

Third-order effects

If Twitter continues to expand payment rails while keeping tipping inside user profiles, creator monetization on the service shifts from ad-dependent audience building toward direct, account-level payments.
Privacy disclosure becomes a structural requirement for social-payment features: payment integrations can constrain adoption even when the platform itself does not process the funds.

The trend: Twitter is turning profile-based audience reach into a multi-rail creator-payment layer, with payment privacy and regional coverage shaping its expansion.

Discussion

help.twitter.com help.twitter.com on x
About Tip Jar — We know that people are often informed, entertained, and even moved …
@twitter @twitter on x
show your love, leave a tip now testing Tip Jar, a new way to give and receive money on Twitter 💸 more coming soon... https://twitter.com/...
@racheltobac Rachel Tobac on x
Huge heads up on PayPal Twitter Tip Jar. If you send a person a tip using PayPal, when the receiver opens up the receipt from the tip you sent, they get your *address*. Just tested to confirm by tipping @yashar on Twitter w/ PayPal and he did in fact get my address I tipped him. …
@twittersupport @twittersupport on x
Now you can do more to support the many amazing voices who add to the conversation on Twitter — send them tips. You can send someone a tip through several payment services by tapping the new Tip Jar icon on their profile, testing on Android and iOS. https://twitter.com/...
@juiceboxca Jack Appleby on x
It's worth remembering that @Twitter's the only major social network that allows full nudity... and Twitter takes $0 of Tip Jar... and OnlyFans takes 20%...
@kayvz Kayvon Beykpour on x
@RachelTobac @yashar this is a good catch, thank you. we can't control the revealing of the address on Paypal's side but we will add a warning for people giving tips via Paypal so that they are aware of this.
@taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on x
Twitter introduces a “tip jar” on user profiles which allows the following services" Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, Venmo. Twitter takes no cut. On Android, tips can also be sent within Spaces. https://t.co/1N2gCx0YjK
@broderick Ryan Broderick on x
Tipping? What happened to stealing a photo from Instagram, creating a fake account, using that to tweet something like “Grinding for the summer 💪🏻,” using thousands of bots and other sock puppet accounts to retweet it, and then advertising dildos and projectors in the replies?
@twitterspaces Spaces on x
love what you're hearing in a Space? starting today, Tip Jar is being tested with a small group, including Spaces hosts! https://twitter.com/...
@histoftech Mar Hicks on x
Wow, read the comments on the linked thread. Already random commenters are finding multiple serious problems with this new beta feature and showing more thought and effort QAing it than the company that produced it🥶 https://twitter.com/...
@luulubuu @luulubuu on x
https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kerrymflynn @kerrymflynn on x
Here's what it looks like when you turn on Twitter Tip Jar — I added Venmo but there's a bunch of other payment services Fun, smart product update by Twitter as it invests more in $$$$ supporting creators https://twitter.com/...
@morningmoneyben Ben White on x
You can try to tip me to stop tweeting about the #Yankees but I regret to inform you it will not work. https://twitter.com/...
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
Now I don't need to sell my pics on OnlyFans! Thanks, Twitter. https://twitter.com/...
@kozza @kozza on x
Jack, Imma send you a dollar. After you get it, go on and hit me back with something. Then I do the same. Tip Jar Tennis https://twitter.com/...
@udiwertheimer Udi Wertheimer on x
pretty serious data privacy issue it's almost as bad as using ethereum https://twitter.com/...
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
There are people who find people's Tip Jars just to send them requests for payment So I turned off my PayPal's Payment Request notifications and set up rules sending the emails straight to spam https://twitter.com/...
@astrogriz @astrogriz on x
This is rlly great for content creators wow https://twitter.com/...
@kurtisconner Kurtis Conner on x
gonna end every tweet of mine with “will delete for $100” 🤑 https://twitter.com/...
@jayjurden May Murden on x
People are about to get even more insufferable on here https://blog.twitter.com/...
@stuckey2 Stuckey on x
10M in tips and I won't ever put an Akron football bet in the app ever again https://twitter.com/...
@djfolk DJ Folk on x
yeah twitter coming for OF LOL https://twitter.com/...
@ow @ow on x
omg gonna make bank tweeting now!! (it's very weird it doesn't tell you the twitter handle...) https://twitter.com/...
@gregpak Greg Pak on x
This is a horrifying security/privacy flaw. Don't use the Twitter Tip Jar until this gets figured out, folks. https://twitter.com/...
@its_willyu @its_willyu on x
For those that want to use the Twitter Tip Jar, be careful what service you sign up with! It seems like Venmo (which PayPal owns) doesn't share this info in a transaction, but if there are any issues like this for it, please call it out and I will RT ASAP. https://twitter.com/...
@michellehux Lauren Chanel on x
tip jar through paypal takes 33%? and... gives your home address to the person you tip? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ebthen @ebthen on x
It seems like people don't necessarily get how Tip Jar works. You're not forced to participate. If you don't want to turn it on, you don't have to. It's super practical though for those of us who, for example, do most of our work ON Twitter. https://blog.twitter.com/...
@ow @ow on x
lol that only one of these works properly in Canada, land of no Venmo/cash app https://twitter.com/...
@ow @ow on x
wow now twitter ‘tip jar’ lets u literally pay me if u like my twetes https://twitter.com/...
@anildash @anildash on x
This is what it looked like when we added a Tip Jar feature on a blogging platform 16 years ago. https://web.archive.org/... We've come a long way! https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Please tip me in $DOGE https://twitter.com/...
@caseyjohnston Casey Johnston on x
i take my lack of tip jar to mean i'm not adding to the conversation https://twitter.com/...
@epicfunnyname Lupin on x
now i can get paid to tweet stupid shit! https://twitter.com/...
@thbenkoe @thbenkoe on x
@Techmeme @esthercrawford I'm using Twitter in German and it works as well.
@keithkurson Keith Kurson on x
just a reminder that paypal will close your account if they find out you're doing “illegal activity” https://twitter.com/...
@jsrailton John Scott-Railton on x
WOAH, new Twitter #tipjar feature shows your physical address to the recipient. What could possibly go wrong? https://twitter.com/...
@mekkadonmusic Mekka Don on x
How about...YOU just pay us @Twitter ? 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
@jaylabrenae Mama Jay on x
I love this because when I donate to GoFundMes I always add extra cash since I know they take a percentage! https://twitter.com/...
@hushes Cheryl Black on x
Journalists and experts? I think I see the flaw in the rollout. https://twitter.com/...
@chuckwendig Chuck Wendig on x
call me when there's a BUY MY BOOK feature https://twitter.com/...
@shura @shura on x
i know you got my tweets for free for the last 10 years but now you can tip me for them. don't all rush at once (please do) 🤣 https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Twitter adds a tip jar on user profiles which allows the following services; Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal & Venmo. Twitter takes no cut. This is more polished than what Clubhouse did and is way overdue given how people use the service. https://t.co/lZ9Wd1FKoP
@nonlinearnotes Jason on x
twitter is gonna look a lot more like onlyfans very soon https://twitter.com/...
@philabouzeid D Phil on x
Spread love and dollars on #Twitter https://twitter.com/...
@kerrymflynn @kerrymflynn on x
Ooo Twitter Tip Jar just popped up on my mobile app 👀👀👀 https://twitter.com/...
@t0nit0ne Toni Tone on x
Oh snap! If you have ever asked me when I will marry, please send some money for a wedding. If you have ever asked me when I'll have kids, please send some money for the baby prep. If you have ever asked me why I'm on Twitter so much, please send some money for a hobby. Thanks 😄 …
@susanlitv Susan Li on x
I take #cryptocurrencies 🤓 #Twitter #Tips https://twitter.com/...
@lollardfish David M. Perry on x
I see a lot of skepticism, but as a freelancer putting together an income through a lot of small revenue streams, I am wildly in favor of this and want to be added to the program ASAP. https://twitter.com/...
@spencerdailey Spencer Dailey on x
@Techmeme @esthercrawford so, as someone who is unverified, writes, and is considering writing more, can I - for the umpteenth time - complain that Twitter is taking forever to relaunch verifications. Apparently it's around the corner... ok, but the oppo costs of not now are real…

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