Musk Said Twitter (X) Will Charge Users For Subscription Fees
Elon Musk has announced that Twitter, now rebranded as X, will begin charging users a “small monthly subscription.” This announcement was made during a livestream with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Musk emphasized that introducing a paywall would help deter bots or automated accounts that have been causing issues on the platform.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” Musk said. “A bot costs a fraction of a penny—call it a tenth of a penny—but even if it has to pay a few dollars or so, the effective cost of bots becomes very high.” He added that each time a bot creator wanted to make a new bot, they would need a different payment method. While Musk did not specify an exact amount, he mentioned it would be a “small amount of money.”
During the conversation, Musk also shared some updated statistics about X. He stated that the platform now has 550 million users each month, generating between 100 to 200 million posts daily. However, it remains unclear if these numbers include automated accounts, whether helpful ones like news feeds or harmful ones like spam bots.
This new user count doesn’t allow for a direct comparison with Twitter’s performance before Musk’s acquisition. Previously, Twitter used a metric called “average monetizable daily active users” to measure accounts exposed to advertisements. In the first quarter of 2022, Twitter reported having 229 million average monetizable daily active users.
Musk did not provide specific details on how or when he plans to implement the new subscription fee. Since he took over the platform last year, X has encouraged users to subscribe to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue), which costs $8 per month or $84 per year. X Premium offers features like editing posts, seeing fewer ads, enhanced search results, better rankings, and the ability to write longer posts.
In a related development, Musk previously threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), attributing a 60% decline in ad revenue to their actions. During his discussion with Netanyahu, they also touched on AI technology and its regulation. When the topic of hate speech on X came up, Musk reiterated his stance, stating that he is “against antisemitism” and “against anything that promotes hate and conflict.”
Netanyahu expressed his hope that Musk could find a way to reduce antisemitism and other forms of hate speech while respecting the principles of the First Amendment. “I encourage you and urge you to find the balance,” Netanyahu said. “It’s a tough one.”
Elon Musk’s announcement of a paid subscription for X marks a significant shift in the evolution of social media. While the specifics are still emerging, it is evident that X aims to redefine the user experience, providing a more personalized and feature-rich environment. As we await further details on this update, it remains to be seen how this ambitious venture will shape the future of online communication and social media platforms.
