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Periscope announces 'Super Hearts'- a feature that lets you buy in-app virtual gifts

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CIOL Writers
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Twitter-owned Periscope has constantly been offering new updates to build its broadcaster community over the past few months. The app's latest update called Super Hearts is an initiative aimed at monetizing the platform.

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Dubbed "Super Hearts", the feature expands on the existing ability to send hearts as a "like" mechanism. Now users can tap on a Super Hearts icon that appears on the screen to select the type of heart one wants to send to the broadcaster. The feature can only be used when the broadcast is live.

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To start using the feature, a viewer must purchase a package of virtual coins from the App or Play Store. These coins are available in different packages ranging from $0.99 for 1050 coins to $99.99 for 132, 500. Super Hearts that are given to streamers get tracked on their profiles in the form of stars.

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The hearts, beyond virtual love, can also increase the ranking and status of the broadcaster. As an additional incentive, Periscope is also introducing "Super Broadcasters Program". Once creators accumulate $175 worth of these super hearts, they can then exchange the digital goods for cash. Twitter says that creators will receive about 70 percent of the actual value of those virtual goods, with the other 30 percent going to things like fees and payment processing.

"We created Super Hearts for qualified broadcasters to monetize their content, and our objective is to learn from and iterate on this program to help them realize their most earning potential. After standard fees from in-app purchases and payment processing, broadcasters will receive around 70 percent of the remaining value. Changes in fees and foreign exchange fluctuations mean that the effective percentage can vary," said Sara Haider, director of engineering at Periscope.

At first, only broadcasters in the US will be eligible for the new feature, but Periscope plans to expand to other countries soon, the company said.

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