In New Zealand and the Philippines, as part of a new trial, Elon Musk X, formerly known as Twitter, has begun charging new users $1 (£0.82) a year to access key services.
Among them are the options to tweet, retweet, favorite posts, and comment on postings.
The only things those who choose not to pay the monthly price can do are read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts.
The goal, according to the social media site, is to “reduce spam, platform manipulation, and bot activity.”
Although Mr. Musk has stated that it will still be free to create “read only” accounts, which do not have crucial capabilities, new accounts will still need to authenticate their phone number.
The CEO of X, Tesla, and SpaceX hinted last month that all X users could need to pay for access.
Since Elon Musk paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter last year, its revenue has been declining steadily.
Although the company has a clear financial incentive to charge consumers, the controversial billionaire claims that the goal of charging users is to combat bots.
A bot only costs “a fraction of a penny” to construct, according to him in the past. “But if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost to bots is very high” .
Longer articles and more exposure are now included as extra features for paid X Premium customers.
In the US, X Premium presently costs $8 per month. While other users can still use X for free, the cost varies based on which nation a member is from.
Placing X behind a paywall carries the risk of the platform losing a significant portion of its consumers. The company’s primary source of income at the moment, advertising revenue, could consequently decline.
The company has recently been under investigation by the European Union for the potential dissemination of terrorist, violent, and hateful content following Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Additionally, it was penalized by Australia’s internet safety commission for its lack of cooperation during an investigation into anti-child abuse policies.
Why is needed to Elon musk X begins charging new users $1 a year in New Zealand, Philippines
There are a few possible reasons why X has begun charging new users $1 a year in New Zealand and the Philippines: Listed Below The possible reasons
- To reduce spam and bot accounts. X has said that the subscription fee is designed to deter spammers and bot creators from creating fake accounts on the platform. This is because it costs them money to do so.
- To generate more revenue. X is a private company, and it needs to generate revenue in order to operate. The subscription fee could help to offset the costs of running the platform and developing new features.
- To test new pricing models. It is possible that X is using this trial to test the waters for a more widespread subscription model in the future. If the trial is successful, X could decide to charge all users, or at least a subset of users, for access to the platform.
It’s also vital to point out how little the monthly charge is, especially when compared to those for similar services. This shows that X’s primary motivation is not to increase revenue. It seems more likely that X is concentrating on lowering spam and bot accounts as well as enhancing the user experience overall.
Overall, there are a few explanations for why X started charging new customers in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 per year. Reducing spam and bot accounts and testing new pricing structures are the most likely motives.
