X, previously Twitter, assessments charging new customers $1 a yr to make use of fundamental options

X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter, announced Tuesday it’s testing out a subscription mannequin wherein it is going to cost new customers $1 a yr to make use of fundamental options. 

The social media big stated it was launching its “Not a Bot” annual subscription methodology in New Zealand and the Philippines as a take a look at run. Present customers is not going to be impacted in the course of the take a look at. 

“This may consider a probably highly effective measure to assist us fight bots and spammers on X, whereas balancing platform accessibility with the small price quantity,” X stated, including that the cost will not be a “profit driver.” 

Customers who create new accounts will confirm their account with their telephone quantity after which pay $1 USD. They’ll then be capable to use key options like posting, liking, replying to, reposting, bookmarking and quoting posts. New customers who choose out of the subscription might be relegated to “learn solely” features, resembling studying posts, watching movies and following accounts, in keeping with X. 

The announcement aligns with earlier remarks from X proprietor Elon Musk, who took over the platform in 2022. Final month, Musk stated he was contemplating charging a “small monthly payment” to make use of X throughout a live-streamed dialog with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying on the time the price could be meant to maintain bots off the platform. On the similar occasion, Musk stated X has 550 million month-to-month customers that generate 100 million to 200 million posts a day. 

Earlier this yr, Musk also imposed momentary day by day limits on posts customers can view to, he stated, “handle excessive ranges of knowledge scraping & system manipulation.” 

Presently, X has a premium subscription service, charging customers for sure options, together with with the ability to edit a publish and having prioritized rankings in conversations and search. Pricing for the service begins at $8 a month. 

Christopher Brito

Christopher Brito is a social media supervisor and trending content material author for CBS Information.