On September 18, social media users went into a frenzy when Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), revealed that he would soon be introducing a subscription fee for all X users.
While Musk insists the motive behind this change is to combat the persistent issue of bots and nefarious activity on the platform, it’s still sparking quite a backlash from the X community. Many users took to social media to voice their concerns, with some even sharing their intent to return to “Threads,” X’s Meta-owned competition.
Musk emphasized that the subscription fee would be “lower tier pricing” compared to X Premium, the existing subscription service. X Premium, known for its blue verified checkmark and access to exclusive features such as post editing, remains available for users who seek enhanced functionality.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” explained Musk. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny — call it a tenth of a penny — but even if it has to pay…a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high.” Every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method.
Musk also shared that the X platform currently has 550 million monthly users who generate 100 to 200 million posts every day. By requiring users to pay a subscription fee, his hope is to create a financial barrier that will deter those who misuse the platform with automated accounts.
As this transition unfolds, it will be interesting to see if X can effectively balance user satisfaction with its new subscription plan.
Are you willing to pay for X?