X’s New Premium Subscriptions Tiers

Elon Musk has announced the introduction of two new premium membership categories for his social media network X (formerly known as Twitter).

“One is more expensive but has no ads, and the other is lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads,” the billionaire stated in a post on X.

It happens at the same time that the company began charging $1 to new customers in the Philippines and New Zealand for platform access.

Mr. Musk withheld further information about the intentions.

According to the company’s website, new users who choose not to subscribe will only be allowed to perform “read only” activities, like reading posts, watching videos, and following accounts.

Whether there will be any free options is unknown.

Mr. Musk has long said that charging for the service is the best way to get rid of bots and phony accounts on the social media network.

Ever since assuming control of the company in October of last year, he has endeavored to get customers to subscribe to an upgraded service, currently referred to as X Premium. Some customers now choose to subscribe to the blue check service for $8 a month.

Its “Not A Bot” subscription option seeks to lessen bot activity, spam, and platform manipulation.

He has also made an effort to entice marketers to return to X by providing discounts.

Advertisers have stopped running advertising on the platform as a result of Mr. Musk’s abrupt changes, which include mass layoffs and the dissolution of content moderation teams.

While acknowledging that the platform’s revenue has suffered, he placed the blame on activists for exerting pressure on advertisers.

Wider issue

Larger internet firms have also dabbled in combining subscription and ad-supported services.

While there are ad-supported paid and free versions of YouTube offered by Alphabet, there are also paid, albeit less expensive, ad-supported plans available from Netflix.

Similar to X, YouTube is powered by user-generated content and pays creators a portion of its subscription fees.

Content producers receive a portion of X’s ad revenue, but the company did not say whether or not to pay them under ad-free subscription arrangements.

Advertisers aren’t flocking back because they’re afraid their advertisements will display next to harmful content, despite Mr. Musk’s attempts to make money on X, where the business has come under fire for inadequate content management.

Following the dissemination of false material on its platform, the European Commission opened an inquiry into X last week to determine whether it complies with new tech regulations regarding unlawful and harmful content.

Read more at News Intercept:

X Starts charging new users $1 a year in New Zealand, Philippines