Elon Musk will start charging all new users of X, formerly Twitter, for posts on the social network
Elon Musk wants to end bots and spam X. And he wants to improve the economic performance of the social network formerly known as Twitter. Having abandoned the idea last fall to start charging new users of the “application” in order to combat automated accounts that misinform and direct the user’s attention to promotions and dubious goods, the businessman again took up the load. And he did it, and with the same idea as then. The difference is that this time the movement seems serious.
“Unfortunately, the only way to stop the relentless bot attack is a small publishing fee for new users,” Musk said in a recent post on his personal X account. In it, the tycoon also indicated that there was no other option. a way to combat the problem, since current artificial intelligence allows bots to easily pass the tests that the application runs to detect and eliminate them.
Indeed, this is not the first time that Elon Musk has announced that he is going to start charging new users to use the social network. A few months ago, the businessman began using this new product on a limited basis in the Philippines and New Zealand. In these countries, newly created accounts had to pay one US dollar per month if they wanted to post, retweet or like third-party content. Come on, if they didn’t scratch X’s pocket, it will eventually turn into a content-only space; In fact, this is what many Internet users use it for.
All indications are that the change can be applied immediately; At least that’s what Musk says. Although at the moment there is no data on this matter. It is also unknown whether the $1 per month rate that was charged in countries where the initiative has already been implemented will be the same for the rest of Internet users when it becomes widespread.
In a follow-up tweet, the mogul acknowledged that this is a “difficult step” and further noted that new accounts opened on the old Twitter will still be able to “perform written actions free of charge for three months” after signing. opened an account.
To date, with the exception of an experiment in New Zealand and the Philippines, the only users who have paid X directly have been those subscribed to one of two premium subscription plans that provide access to exclusive features. In these cases, the cost can be 8 or 16 euros per month depending on the chosen method. New accounts are expected to pay significantly less to use the app.