Platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will no longer be free to users. The social media platform is about to charge money from users who would be new to the platform.
As per Elon Musk, new users who would join X will have to pay a “small” fee for every activity that they engage in on the platform. From liking to posting to replying and even bookmarking tweets will be chargeable.
The development was first perceived by account X daily news, which regularly posts updates about news related to X.
It has been found that the website’s content in terms of text has been revised. New users, hence, will have to pay a nominal yearly charge to gain access to the social network.
The policy was previously active in New Zealand and the Philippines, states X daily news.
It further reveals that the policy was earlier being tested to help reduce spam and improve the experience for users overall.
Responding to the tweet, Musk said, “Unfortunately, a small fee for new user writing access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots. Current AI (and troll farms) can pass ‘are you a bot’ with ease. The onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, so many good handles are taken as a result.”
Musk’s retweet suggests that the idea behind the move is to combat spam bots. Also, transparency and accuracy in user metrics will get enhanced. And chances of misleading advertisers and investors could be restricted.
However, he did not shed any light on how X will prevent fake accounts and automated bots because those who send spam might also be willing to pay the small fee.
Alternatively, they can make many accounts and wait until they can post messages.
As far as normal users are concerned, they might not want to use platform X because of the added steps that they have to follow daily to sign up. This would lead to irritation and users can switch to other social networks without paying anything.
The cost, reportedly, seems to be around $1, since it’s $1.75 in New Zealand money.
