How many listeners can join a Twitter Space?

A Twitter Space can have unlimited listeners. Up to 13 people can speak at once - the host, up to 2 co-hosts, and up to 10 speakers. Anyone with an account can listen to a public Space. The host controls who gets speaking privileges and can promote listeners to speakers during the session.

Do you need followers to host a Twitter Space?

Any X account can host a Space. However, Spaces appear as a purple ring around your profile picture in your followers' timelines, so having more followers means more initial listeners. Spaces with 3 or more listeners get promoted in the Spaces tab, making discoverability easier even for smaller accounts.

Can you record Twitter Spaces?

Yes, hosts can enable recording before starting a Space. Recorded Spaces remain available for 30 days after the live session ends. Listeners can replay the audio at any time during that window. This makes Spaces useful for content repurposing - you can extract clips for tweets, podcasts, or blog content.

What Is Twitter Spaces?

Twitter Spaces (now X Spaces) is a live audio feature on X (formerly Twitter) that allows users to host, co-host, and participate in real-time voice conversations directly within the platform. Spaces function like a public stage - a host opens a room, invites speakers, and anyone on X can join as a listener. Since launching in late 2020 and rolling out broadly in 2021, Spaces has become one of the most effective tools for building authority and community on the platform without creating polished written content.

How Does Twitter Spaces Work?

Spaces operates on a three-tier role system: hosts, speakers, and listeners. The host creates the Space, sets the topic, and controls who can speak. Up to 2 co-hosts can share moderation duties, and up to 10 additional speakers can join the conversation at any time. Everyone else joins as a listener.

When a Space is live, it appears as a purple ring around the host's profile picture at the top of followers' timelines. This prominent placement is a major visibility advantage - it puts your content at the very top of the feed, above all tweets. Spaces also appear in a dedicated discovery tab where users can browse live and upcoming audio sessions.

Hosts can schedule Spaces in advance, which creates a shareable link and reminder notification for followers. Scheduling is critical for building consistent audiences because it lets people plan to attend rather than stumbling upon a live session by chance.

How Does the Algorithm Promote Spaces?

The X algorithm gives Spaces significant promotional support. Live Spaces receive priority placement in several locations:

Timeline banner. Active Spaces from accounts you follow appear as a purple bubble at the top of your timeline, making them nearly impossible to miss.
Spaces discovery tab. Spaces with 3 or more listeners get promoted in the browse section, where users can discover conversations by topic.
Push notifications. Followers receive notifications when someone they follow starts or schedules a Space, depending on notification settings.
Post-Space engagement. When a Space ends, the host can tweet a summary or link to the recording, which benefits from the engagement already generated during the live session.

This algorithmic promotion means Spaces give you visibility that a standard tweet simply cannot match. A tweet might get buried in the feed within minutes, but a live Space sits at the top of your followers' experience for as long as it runs.

What Are the Best Use Cases for Startup Founders?

For startups, Spaces is one of the most accessible formats for building thought leadership and community. Here are the use cases we see working best:

AMAs and Product Launches

Hosting an Ask Me Anything session lets your audience interact with you directly. This builds trust faster than any written content because listeners hear your voice, your tone, and your unscripted responses. Product launches in Spaces format create real-time excitement and let you address questions immediately.

Industry Discussions and Panels

Invite other founders, investors, or experts to discuss a topic relevant to your audience. Panel-style Spaces attract each speaker's followers, expanding your reach through their networks. A Space with 4 speakers from different audiences can pull in listeners you would never reach with tweets alone.

Weekly Recurring Sessions

The most effective Spaces strategy is consistency. Hosting a weekly Space on a specific topic - "Startup Growth Tactics every Thursday at 2 PM" - builds an audience that shows up repeatedly. Over time, these recurring sessions become a reliable growth channel. This pairs well with a broader growth strategy on X because your Spaces audience converts into followers who engage with your tweets.

Customer and Community Building

If you have early users or customers, hosting a Space where they share their experience creates social proof in real-time. Potential customers listening hear genuine reactions rather than polished testimonials. Twitter Communities can amplify this further by giving your audience a persistent place to continue conversations after the Space ends.

How Should You Grow Your Audience Using Spaces?

Growing through Spaces requires a combination of preparation, promotion, and follow-up:

Promote before you go live. Tweet about your upcoming Space at least 24 hours in advance. Pin the scheduling tweet to your profile. Share the link in relevant Communities. The more people who set a reminder, the stronger your opening listener count will be.

Start strong. The first 5 minutes of a Space determine whether listeners stay or leave. Open with a clear agenda, introduce speakers, and jump into valuable content quickly. Long introductions and dead air kill retention.

Engage listeners. Use the hand-raise feature to let listeners ask questions or share their perspective. People who participate are far more likely to follow you and return for future Spaces. The shift from passive listening to active participation is where real community forms.

Repurpose the recording. Enable recording before you start the Space. After it ends, the recording is available for 30 days. Extract key moments as audio clips for tweets, transcribe insights into thread content, or use highlights for a blog post. A single 60-minute Space can generate a week of content across formats.

Follow up with a thread. After the Space, post a thread summarizing the key takeaways. Tag the speakers and thank the audience. This thread captures the value for people who missed the live session and often performs well because it references real conversation rather than hypothetical advice.

What Mistakes Should You Avoid With Spaces?

Going live without promotion. Even accounts with large followings see poor attendance when they launch a Space without advance notice. Always schedule and promote.

Hosting without a structure. Spaces that meander without a clear topic or agenda lose listeners within minutes. Have a topic, 3 to 5 discussion points, and a rough timeline.

Ignoring the audience. Spaces that feel like a podcast - where speakers only talk to each other - miss the interactive advantage of the format. Bring listeners into the conversation regularly.

Not recording. A Space without a recording is a one-time event. A recorded Space is a content asset that keeps working for 30 days and can be repurposed indefinitely.

Spaces is one of the most underused features on X for startup founders. While most founders focus exclusively on tweets and threads, Spaces offers a direct path to building deeper relationships with your audience through voice. Combined with a solid content and engagement strategy, Spaces can accelerate your growth by adding a personal, interactive dimension that text alone cannot provide.