Spill, a Twitter Alternative, was created by former employees

• DeVaris and Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell created a Twitter alternative called “Spill.”
• Former Twitter employees cater to “culture drivers”, especially Black and queer creators.
• Terrell stated that Spill will launch next month and has already 20,000 people on its waiting list.

Two former Twitter employees today announced the creation Spill, a social platform that caters to “culture drivers” and provides refuge for creators of Black Twitter.

TechCrunch’s Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell, and DeVaris “Brown” Brown stated that Spill will be “a real-time platform that puts culture first”, when it launches in January.

Terrell served as Twitter’s global head of social and editorial for three years — until last month, when he was among the thousands of employees laid off following Elon Musk’s takeover. Brown worked as a product manager for Twitter on machine learning for over a decade. But, in 2020, Brown shifted to the Series A startup. Meroxa, a service that provides real-time data.

Terrell said, “While Spill may be for everyone,” Terrell added that Terrell caters to culture drivers who frequently set new trend but are often overlooked and underpaid. tweetedIn his announcement of the app. “Yes, we mean Black creators and Queer creators and a variety other influential voices from outside the U.S.” 

The founders told TechCrunchThey became close friends because they were both Black employees at Twitter. They wanted to create a space to celebrate the cultural contributions and influential content that Black users often brought to the app.

The “cultural force to be reckoned” by The GuardianBlack Twitter is at both the heart of viral digital culture moments and real-world social movements. Hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter, #SayHerNameAs well as the Kermit the Frog drinking tea meme (among many others) either originated or were popularized by the unofficial online network.

“Even before I quit Twitter, over the past several months, I was just speaking to Black female creators, discussing Black queer creators and I’m like ‘How do your make your money? Are you supported by any platform? Is the idea of Spill appealing to you? Terrell told TechCrunch.

Named after the phrase “spill the Tea”, the Spill app will use blockchain to pay users for popular posts. It will also include a feature called tea parties, where users can meet up online or in person to connect.

Terrell said, “It is not a web3 thing.” told TechCrunch. “But the use blockchain is for crediting creators as well as setting up a model that allows us to automatically compensate them. It’s very effective if they have a spill that goes wild and we monetize it.

Since Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of TwitterOctober hate speech and slurs against Black users have skyrocketedPopular users of Black Twitter have used comedy to their advantage mourn the loss of their online community.

Brown stated, “We will be more intentional and more precise around things that are deemed offensive, because again, this is our lived or learned experience.” told TechCrunch. “It will be much easier to catch those types of things that will detract the platform that would prevent us from creating a safe space to our users and our Creators.”

Terrell was notified about the app’s launch. tweetedSpill received 20,000 handles reservations within 12 hours. 

Terrell: “Thanks for the love, the feedback and the many offers of support – I have no idea what this means.” Terrell tweeted.

Spill advisors April Reign and Spill advisors DeRay Mckesson and Dantley Davis did no immediate respond to Insider’s requests.