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Weeks after Elon Musk floated the idea to further monetise the platform by introducing a ‘small monthly payment’ for using X (formerly known as Twitter), the CEO of the social media platform has confirmed it’s testing three tiers of premium service. Reports suggest that this new subscription model will allow the company to charge customers different amounts depending on how many ads are shown.
Citing a person who heard the call, Bloomberg reported that this will also allow the platform to generate revenue from users who would not have paid for the current premium subscription, which costs Rs 650 per month and Rs 6,800 annually in India. This could mean that everyone on the platform may have to pay a subscription fee to use it.
“Elon Musk’s X, giving bankers an update on efforts to reinvigorate growth, said that it’s testing three tiers of premium service, which would allow the company to charge customers different amounts depending on how many ads are shown,” the report said.
It added that the premium plan will be split into Basic, Standard and Plus variations – which is in line with a previous rumour according to which the Basic Premium users will see full ads, Standard users will see half ads and Plus users will not see any ads on the platform.
Why Musk wants to charge all users
Musk first talked about charging “a small monthly payment” for the use of the X system in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which was live-streamed last month. He suggested that the change will solve the bot problem on the platform.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots. Because 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 something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” Musk said.
He explained that with this payment move, bot creators will need to pay for every bot they make.
“This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots,” Musk added.
Musk, however, did not provide information on what the subscription will cost. “We’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. So we just want it to be just a small amount of money,” he said.
Apart from tackling the bots problem, the new model will also help the company rake up money. X also said that while advertisers are returning to the platform, they’re bringing smaller budgets than before. Notably, the new subscription could pose a risk of losing users.
Citing a person who heard the call, Bloomberg reported that this will also allow the platform to generate revenue from users who would not have paid for the current premium subscription, which costs Rs 650 per month and Rs 6,800 annually in India. This could mean that everyone on the platform may have to pay a subscription fee to use it.
“Elon Musk’s X, giving bankers an update on efforts to reinvigorate growth, said that it’s testing three tiers of premium service, which would allow the company to charge customers different amounts depending on how many ads are shown,” the report said.
It added that the premium plan will be split into Basic, Standard and Plus variations – which is in line with a previous rumour according to which the Basic Premium users will see full ads, Standard users will see half ads and Plus users will not see any ads on the platform.
Why Musk wants to charge all users
Musk first talked about charging “a small monthly payment” for the use of the X system in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which was live-streamed last month. He suggested that the change will solve the bot problem on the platform.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots. Because 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 something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” Musk said.
He explained that with this payment move, bot creators will need to pay for every bot they make.
“This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots,” Musk added.
Musk, however, did not provide information on what the subscription will cost. “We’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. So we just want it to be just a small amount of money,” he said.
Apart from tackling the bots problem, the new model will also help the company rake up money. X also said that while advertisers are returning to the platform, they’re bringing smaller budgets than before. Notably, the new subscription could pose a risk of losing users.
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