New Twitter owner Elon Musk announced on Twitter on Tuesday the upcoming launch of an $8-a-month subscription for users who want to authenticate their account as authentic and be less exposed to ads.
The social network has offered subscriptions to paid features since last year, but the CEO wants a new, more expensive and more widely accepted program that would diversify the platform’s revenue streams.
Abolish the “lords and peasants” system
“The current system of landlords and peasants, with those with blue ticks and those without, is stupid. Power to the people. Blue for $8 a monthsaid the head of Tesla and SpaceX, which bought Twitter on Thursday. So he plans to merge Twitter Blue, a $5-a-month subscription for more convenient reading and editing tools, with the ability for eligible accounts to verify and authenticate their identities.
Currently, only certain profiles can claim this blue mark of authenticity, including governments, companies, media, political, cultural or sports figures, etc. They may lose their badge if they do not respect the rules of the platform. As of Friday, Elon Musk has asked engineers to work tirelessly on this system overhaul. He said that subscribers will have other advantages. their tweets will be prioritized, they’ll be able to post longer videos and audio messages, and they’ll be subject to “halfway advertising.” Subscription price will vary by country. “It will also generate revenue for Twitter to reward content creators“, he concluded.
The world’s richest man has reiterated since the start of the eventful process that he embarked on this course of action.public placeessential to and for democracyhelp humanity“. He mentioned that profitability is not his priority. But Twitter is a network that derives 90% of its revenue from advertising and has never been very profitable compared to its California neighbors Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and Google (YouTube).
A project that sometimes causes concern and rejection
Musk may promise that the Twitter platform won’t become inoperable when he relaxes content moderation rules, but some advertisers are worried. On Friday, the car manufacturer General Motors announced that it is temporarily removing its advertising from Twitter. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) for its part has reminded the importance of brands that “toxic content” are removed.
Therefore, income diversification seems necessary. According to the specialized website The Verge, Elon Musk first discussed the possibility of increasing the subscription price to $20 per month. “Twenty bucks a month to keep my blue badge? Send them, they should pay me instead. If it is created, I break itBestselling author Stephen King tweeted on Monday. Elon Musk responded by offering eight dollars a month, with no apparent response from the writer. The idea of having to pay to certify your account has received a lot of criticism. “Reaching out to Twitter users to earn more money may be the right strategy, but endorsements are not the place to paycommented Jasmine Enberg, analyst of Insider Intelligence. “Authentication is intended to ensure the authenticity of accounts and conversations on the platform, it is not a premium tool to improve the experience of users who have access to it.“, he added.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.