Elon Ask said, through his “X” platform, that the social media company may impose a “small” monthly subscription on platform users in order to combat “fake users and bots.”
Musk did not mention the value of the new subscription for users of the social network, or what other features will or will not be included.
During a live stream, Musk also revealed some new benchmarks for the platform, saying it now has 550 million “monthly users,” who generate 100 million to 200 million posts daily.
Musk did not reveal the number of the company’s real monthly users compared to the robots. It also did not conduct a comprehensive comparison with the metrics Twitter had previously used. In May 2022, before Musk acquired the company, Twitter reported that it had an “average daily active monetizable use” of 229 million.
After acquiring Twitter for about $44 billion in late October, Musk implemented massive staff cuts and sweeping changes to the platform. He continues to run the company as its largest shareholder, technical director and CEO on the board of directors, and is also CEO of the automaker Tesla and the aerospace company SpaceX.
Musk had previously canceled Twitter’s “blue” verification system, which helped users identify real accounts belonging to public figures including celebrities, elected officials, scientists, authors, leaders in business and education, working journalists and others.
Under the social network’s current system, paying users can display a blue badge next to their name. Those who pay see their posts given priority compared to other users. Those who don’t pay have their Tweets promoted by the company less or may see less engagement on the platform. On Monday, Musk reiterated his belief that converting users into paying subscribers will mitigate the spread of bots on the platform.
