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sfrsteel

macrumors newbie
Apr 12, 2024
4
8


Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will soon begin charging new users "a small fee" for posting content and liking, replying, and bookmarking tweets, according to CEO Elon Musk.

X-twitter-logo.jpg

X Daily News, a feed that posts X updates, today noticed that text strings on the website have been updated to mention a small annual fee that new users will need to pay in order to access the social network.

Musk said in response that the fee for new users is "the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots."

The fee has previously been tested in New Zealand and the Philippines, and Musk says that it is applicable only to those who are new to Twitter. When a new user signs up, the user will need to pay the fee, or wait for three months to be able to engage on the network. The updated language on the Twitter site:

The text does not mention being able to post for free after three months, but Musk confirmed that "write actions" would be free after that time period.

It is unclear how the policy will stop spam accounts and bots, as spammers will be able to pay the fee or simply create multiple accounts and wait to be able to post. Regular users, meanwhile, could be discouraged from using X due to the extra step and the fact that other social networks are free.

The fee appears to be around $1, as it costs $1.75 NZD in New Zealand. The pay-for-access policy has not yet been implemented outside of New Zealand and the Philippines.

Musk said that fake accounts also use up "the available namespace" limiting the "good handles." X has freed up over a million usernames so far, and will "free up tens of millions in the coming weeks."

Article Link: X May Charge New Users a 'Small Fee' to Post, Like and Reply
Honestly though.. I wont get 200 new followers per day that are all bots... And that can only be a good thing.
 

ApplesAreSweet&Sour

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2018
1,939
3,535
I’m sure this plan will work flawlessly and will not be superseded or abandoned shortly after going live.
It's kind of wild how many iterations of this "charge humans to kill the bots"-plan Elon has announced or discussed only to partially or completely change direction later.

Also, isn't this a very clear admission by Musk that a substantial number of users and all activity on Twitter is "fake", i.e. posted by spam bots, and another consequence of not having enough staff?

And how does this admission benefit Twitter's reputation with advertisers at large?

Not the kind of thing I would admit to if I were in his position.

But it would appear that it's his last resort for Twitter's bleeding bottomline?

Are platforms like Twitter really that hard to come by and so in demand that users will pay for it to have it be functional and bot free?
 
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sfrsteel

macrumors newbie
Apr 12, 2024
4
8
so in other words, tens of millions of users are fake or bots ... just wait til gene capabilities will be in everyone's hands with upcoming chips and OSs (all smartphones inc iOS and Android as well as computers running Windows or macOS).

The best answer is still not to use "services" like X ...

What a society we have become ...
Guess how many on Insta or FB... 10X baby!
 

tonywalker23

macrumors 6502
Dec 21, 2003
449
1,085
SC
$1 sounds good to me. Hey, when you let people pay nothing bots get to make accounts, and humans who pay nothing get to enjoy [checks the calendar, yep it's 2024], a whole 5GB of free iCloud storage.
 

sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,491
19,261
What's wild to me is that despite all of Musk's questionable decisions, none of Twitter's competitors seem to have caught up.

Like I really thought Threads would be a serious competitor to Twitter by now, but so far, I only know a few friends who use Threads, maybe one distant acquaintance who uses Bluesky, and I don't personally know anyone on Mastodon.

But Twitter? I know so many people who still use Twitter.
When you have an 18 year head start and entrenched users who are reluctant at having to start all over again with gaining followers, it's not hard to see why nothing else has caught on.

Just look at the number of followers that Trump has on Truth Social (6.96 million) vs Twitter/X (87.3 million). And he doesn't even post on Twitter/X anymore.
 

And Boom

macrumors newbie
Jul 11, 2022
7
17


Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will soon begin charging new users "a small fee" for posting content and liking, replying, and bookmarking tweets, according to CEO Elon Musk.

It is unclear how the policy will stop spam accounts and bots, as spammers will be able to pay the fee or simply create multiple accounts and wait to be able to post. Regular users, meanwhile, could be discouraged from using X due to the extra step and the fact that other social networks are free.
This is the point - to discourage or prevent legitimate users from interacting and being informed by the platform that was once the world's forum. That this is happening less than 8 months before the election is not a coincidence.
 
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osxhero

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2010
104
28
It's a great idea. Spam bots are ruining the world and responsible for swaying the opinions of the ultra ignorant.
 
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Surfer13134

macrumors 65816
Jun 12, 2010
1,039
775
Florida
I do get it sort off, Have any of yall viewed a post and then the top 50 comments are all spam videos that just bury legitimate replies, The spam on X is TERRIBLE and has gotten worse but charging $1 is nothing. These scammers create thousands of accounts a day, not to mention the ones they take over from legit users, they will just wait out the 3 months and just start using the accounts. Maybe do something like what Meta has done and require a video ID where they provide you a 4-digit pin that you must hand write on paper and then record yourself moving your head around while holding the paper to confirm you're an actual person. Doing something like this would be the best route IMO because they make so much money even a $1 is nothing to them.
 
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Ghost31

macrumors 68040
Jun 9, 2015
3,350
5,168
Musk must be high on X if he thinks this is going to do anything but drive millions of people away from his platform.
I think it’s time for another platform to rise up and for us to support them instead. Let the market do its thing.
 
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ApplesAreSweet&Sour

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2018
1,939
3,535
The unhinged hatred of Musk is a mainstay in these conversations. One mention of his product, service, or name and people lose their minds.
I actually don't know why anyone is surprised he's getting so much hate.

Next to no celebrity or billionaire has ever done as much self-exposing and meddling in all matters of public and political affairs as Musk.

Whether you love or hate him, all of the attention and scrutiny coming his way is all his own doing.

Elon clearly strived for a "cult of personality" to follow him and boost his numbers, a sort of influencer status.

And that's what he got, with all the deep hate and blind love that comes along with it.

It's all on him and he's never going to shake it.
 
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