Twitter: How much will X users have to pay to post tweets under new plans?
In a livestream with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk said the site will move to “a small, monthly payment for use of the X system.”
X, formerly known as Twitter, could die as a platform if new plans to make it a subscription-based site come to fruition.
“[We’re] moving to a small monthly payment for use of the X system,” X controller Elon Musk told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a conversation on Monday. Musk claimed it would end the problem of bots on the site.
Elon when it comes to trash ideas pic.twitter.com/vlMtZN9brA
— SereS (@realSereS) September 18, 2023
A price has not yet been announced and neither has information about what will or won’t be included.
Another potential problem for X this year?
It would undoubtedly remove a large chunk of the user base that would simply not be willing to pay for a service that has been free since its inception. This would also damage the funds gained from advertising, though this revenue stream has dried up in 2023. Since Musk took over at the end of last year, the company has lost half of its advertising revenue.
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These issues have not come in isolation; X has been wracked with numerous problems this year. From 80% of the staff being fired to run-ins with rights organisations over a large increase of anti-semitism on the platform, it is no wonder that advertisers are flocking away from X.
According to Musk, X has 550 million monthly active users, who create 100 million-200 million posts daily on the social network.