Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, and within a year, the platform had undergone dramatic changes, most of which were unpopular. First, the company introduced a paid subscription service. Soon after, it changed its name and logo to “X.” This transformation, which many felt was a loss of identity, drove users towards alternatives like Threads. Thankfully, the company managed to maintain its user count. However, Elon Musk then made a decision that made it seem like he was on a mission to destroy Twitter. The mad billionaire, started charging new users $1 per year to send tweets. Here are the details…
Elon Musk’s $1 Twitter Fee: Is It the End of the Platform?
As you may know, aside from its X Premium subscription, joining the platform formerly known as Twitter used to be free. In order to do that, all you needed to do was verify your membership with a phone number. However, this is changing. X has begun charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines an annual fee of $1. By paying this fee, you can access X’s primary features, including posting tweets, retweeting, liking posts, and responding to them.
If you do not pay the fee, you will only be able to read posts, watch videos, and follow accounts. You will not be permitted to use any other Twitter features. In short, there’s a version of Twitter that views itself as a digital platform, solely presenting the tweets of the people you follow. Twitter and Musk stated that the reason for charging fees is solely to prevent spam, harmful content, and manipulations.
Additionally, new accounts will need to verify their phone numbers, but Mr. Musk mentioned that creating “read-only” accounts without basic features will still be free. In short, if you only enjoy refined pleasures like reading tweets and watching videos, Twitter will likely remain free for you indefinitely. However, if you can’t resist tweeting, you might eventually have to pay $1 to continue using Twitter.
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