What is Twitter Pro?

Twitter, a micro-blogging and social-networking application launched in 2006, planned an expansion of its services in 2010, calling this premium tool Twitter Pro. It is an upgraded version of the basic Twitter account, and monthly charges are collected for its maintenance and feature improvements. Among the features offered with this commercial account is a detailed analytics tool that business entities can use to better market their products on the Internet.

The Twitter Pro service targets businesses as its main users. There are companies willing to pay hundreds of US Dollars (USD) on monthly fees for the use of additional tools. These tools are designed to help the companies track where their tweets are reaching, what people are tweeting about their products or services, and who their target audience is. A form of advertising is also included in the plan, which helps introduce potential customers to the company’s business via Twitter.

In addition, commercial account users are able to verify their accounts. This means they are easily identifiable to customers as the real company and not someone pretending to be the official company or someone with a similar Twitter name. Basic account users are allowed to do this only under special circumstances. For example, well-known celebrities often have a verified Twitter account.

Individual account holders or private entities can also take advantage of the paid account and its upgraded features. The Twitter Pro account for these customers, however, is on an as-needed basis, meaning individual users can opt to pay for some features while disregarding others. One of the most in-demand features in the paid account is an increase to the message size limit. On the basic account, there is a 140-character limit to one Twitter status message. A more user-friendly customization feature for a user’s pages is another in-demand feature.

The Twitter Pro upgrade is one way for Twitter to continue making money and expand its business on the Internet. As of 2010, the company had raised more than $55 million USD for its business model. Twitter has also acquired Summarize, a search engine program designed to make it easier for users to find other users to follow and Twitter trending topics they can retweet.

As of 2010, Twitter Pro was in its first phase of development, and companies were reportedly trying out the premium service’s advantages over maintaining a free account. Twitter Pro is supposed to make online businesses more streamlined and interactive. It is expected to be adopted by many companies for their online transactions. This innovation is changing the way companies connect to their customer base.