Twitter intends to start a new "premium" version of its software Tweetdeck, which would be aimed at professionals.

The social network could for the first time ask some users to pay a subscription, announced on March 24 the social networking microblogging.

According to a reporter from the New York Times, Twitter plans to pay 19.99 euros per month "premium" users who have access to:

• Exclusive content
• Improved and more efficient list tools to categorize users by interest, region, etc.
• Managing multiple Twitter accounts - securely and with multiple
• More analysis tools to "better understand the conversations" that emerge on Twitter
• Importing lists from external sources
• No advertising.

Last month, the site claimed 319 million users worldwide.

But unlike Facebook, the world's first social network, Twitter has never managed to earn profits with an advertising-based business model, despite high popularity among celebrities.

Like most social networks, since its creation 11 years ago, Twitter is free and has so far focused on increasing its user base in hopes of funding through advertising.

Some users of Tweetdeck, software with a graphical interface to view and manage multiple Twitter accounts, may have to pay a subscription.

Twitter is conducting a study "to assess interest in a new upgraded version of Tweetdeck," said spokesman Brielle Villablanca, without specifying whether the site was considering charging fees to all its users.

A New York Times reporter had previously published a screenshot of what would be the new Tweetdeck and hinted that this version would be devoid of publicity.

Other social networks, such as LinkedIn, bought last year by Microsoft, have already launched paid versions that offer subscribers better access and additional data.