In a recent live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, discussed the possibility of introducing a monthly fee for all users. This move comes as an attempt to address the persistent issue of bots on the platform.
According to IANS, Musk mentioned that charging a nominal fee could be an effective strategy to counteract the widespread use of bots. He explained that while bots are incredibly cost-efficient, even a modest fee would significantly increase the overall expense of operating them.
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This notion of implementing charges for all X users isn't entirely new, as Musk had previously suggested it last year. Currently, the company offers a premium service called X Premium, which is available for $8 per month. Subscribers to this service enjoy benefits like post-editing, reduced advertisements, the ability to write longer posts, and higher rankings in search results and conversations.
During the interaction, Musk revealed that X boasts 550 million monthly users, with the platform seeing a staggering 100-200 million posts created each day. However, he did not disclose the exact number of paid subscribers at this time.
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During its last public earnings in Q1 2022 Twitter, reported 229 million monetisable daily active users (mDAUs)
Furthermore, the platform has recently also introduced a government-ID-based verification system for its premium users in a bid to combat impersonation on the platform and provide added benefits, including "prioritised support."
The company has partnered with Israel-based firm Au10tix for identity verification. While the platform already mentions account authentication to prevent impersonation, it's exploring further measures like ensuring users access age-appropriate content and safeguarding against spam and malicious accounts.
Inputs from IANS
