Business
Elon Musk’s X/Twitter to Start Charging New Users
New users will have to pay a small annual fee for posting privileges on Elon Musk's X, the website that was formerly known as Twitter. In addition to giving the platform access to users' credit card information, the company says this move is being made to combat spam and bots.
According to Engadget, X/Twitter recently confirmed its new approach, which is reportedly intended to improve the legitimacy and user experience of its social media platform. A novel subscription model with the intriguing name “Not a Bot” has been unveiled and is presently going through testing phases in the Philippines and New Zealand.
In order to access the platform's essential features, such as tweeting, retweeting, bookmarking, and liking posts, new users must first pay a small annual fee of $1.
The business tweeted that it had “started testing ‘Not A Bot,' a new subscription method for new users in two countries,” as of October 17th, 2023. This initiative's main goal, according to the company, is to “bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform, and bot activity.”
The platform will still allow users to log in, but they will only be able to do so in “read-only” mode, which prevents them from posting any content. Existing users of the platform will not be charged for this service, according to Musk's company, which claims that this fee is not intended to increase company profits. To become a “everything app,” the platform will need to collect users' credit card information.
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has previously talked about the absence of a Western equivalent to the “everything apps” popular in Asia, which combine services like ride-sharing, social networking, payment processing, as well as streaming, video games, and grocery shopping.
“Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” said Musk shortly prior to acquiring the platform.
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