Elon Musk may flip the switch to make X — the social network formerly known as Twitter — an entirely subscription-based platform. Musk brought up the idea of charging all users of X/Twi…

I’m not sure if this is technically Technology news, but I can remove this post if it’s in the wrong community

Archive link: http://archive.today/3XM6s

Musk brought up the idea of charging all users of X/Twitter during a wide-ranging conversation focused on AI that featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. “[We’re] moving to a small monthly payment for use of the X system,” Musk told Netanyahu, claiming that it is the only way to eliminate the problem of bots, as reported by Bloomberg’s Dave Lee.

Musk didn’t mention timing of his plan to charge X/Twitter users, nor did he say how much it would cost.

Musk, who also is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has said X/Twitter ad sales have plunged 50% since he bought the company. “We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load,” Musk posted on July 15.

  • lonewalk@lemm.eeEnglish
    46·
    2 years ago

    So I mean, if this was in lieu of data collection and tracking, this is what more of the software world should actually do. Running platforms isn’t free, and making the user the product is a malicious and unsustainable solution.

    That said, I certainly wouldn’t pay Twitter - I think I’d rather donate to a Mastodon instance, or pay for some other private alternative. Musk is awful for so many reasons, holds way too much power, and deserves no money of mine.

    • UrLogicFails@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
      20·
      2 years ago

      That’s actually a good point about how some services do require payment to provide safe service to their users. A very close to home example would be your local Lemmy instance. In order to run the servers and keep it ad (and tracking) free, each instance needs donations from their users. The same is true for Mastodon, as you mentioned.

      The problem is, I would be shocked if Twitter actually provided a safer (or improved in any way) service. There are a other issues at play as well, but they all basically boil down to most users not wanting too give money to Twitter, and if they were ok with that, they would already have purchased Twitter Blue.

  • UrLogicFails@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
    23·
    2 years ago

    I know it is a popular sentiment that people should migrate to Mastodon, but I personally think people will migrate wherever the people they follow migrate to.

    With this in mind, I suspect Bluesky will be the platform to usurp Twitter; but with Twitter chasing off all their users in the near future, it may go to whichever platform is readily open at the time.

    I’m very curious to see if Bluesky or Spill open up when Twitter closes the door on its users. If not, Mastodon may have a shot at being the next large platform…

      • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        Dorsey more of a proto-Musk IMO. He went off to an island to live with cocaine and guns. He only came back recently to create another social network because he hates Musk’s guts. (Edit: I guess I was wrong, and he doesn’t hate Musk)

        Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure the guys fucking insane, but I also don’t think he’s as bad as musk or as hell-bent on destroying democracy. He’s just interested in making money to buy more cocaine and islands and guns.

          • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            Are you sure? I know they used to be super friends, but I thought they had a falling out.

              • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
                3·
                2 years ago

                Hmm… either they made up, or I’m thinking of something else. I’ll take your word for it.

                Anyway, the rest of what I said stands. Dorsey may be bonkers (check out that Vice interview from a year or two ago), but he’s not even in the same league of evil bastards as Musk. He may be completely a self-interested billionaire, scumbag, but he’s not a literal fascist with Musk’s track record, nor is he actively stoking neo-nazi activity while personally interfering with an ongoing war in favor of our country’s greatest and longest-standing enemy.

                I think you’re giving Jack Dorsey a bit too much credit by calling him another musk.

                Edit: Although… he kinda was “Musk before Musk” if you know what I mean. Like I first said: proto-Musk.

      • UrLogicFails@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
        4·
        2 years ago

        From what I can tell, it’s still on the invite system; but I haven’t been keeping a close eye on it. I figured if it opened up, I would hear about it online.

  • dark_stang@beehaw.orgEnglish
    12·
    2 years ago

    Musk is an absolute idiot. But I’d rather pay for a system than have it mine me for data. I’m guessing he wants to do both though. Because that’s what he does with Tesla cars.

    • BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca
      5·
      2 years ago

      Use unitys model and charge per view, “Your post got 200k views, start paying up! 1 cent per view”

  • the w@beehaw.orgEnglish
    8·
    2 years ago

    Moving to a user supported service IS a good way to cut down on spam and wrest control from advertisers…

    …IF you do it before you destroy all value, branding, community and cultural relevance

    As so many others have said, this move at this point sounds like he’s trying to finally end this fiasco.

  • bob@infosec.pub
    8·
    2 years ago

    Imagine thousands of people not succeeding in crashing a megacorp on purpose, and then one rich guy crashing it just by being stupid

  • 👁️👄👁️@lemm.eeEnglish
    8·
    2 years ago

    I really hope this happens. It already was dying, but this would be the final nail in the coffin for the stubborn users who are still on there for some reason. Clearly Twitter Blue has been failing.