X (ex-Twitter) tests a new annual subscription plan 🤑

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Not a month goes by without another controversial decision from X (formerly Twitter). A recent measure, aimed at charging new subscribers for access to the platform, is currently being tested.

A new $1/year subscription💲

X recently announced it was testing a new subscription called « Not A Bot ». Priced at $1/year, it is currently being tested in two countries: New Zealand and the Philippines. On its support page, the platform explains the reason for this test:

This new test was developed to bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity.

This new subscription is mandatory only for new subscribers in these two countries. Creating a new account in these countries will now involve two additional steps. The first step is verification of the phone number. Once this step has been validated, the second is the choice of subscription: the new « Not A Bot » annual subscription, X Premium, or the subscription for organizations. Users who choose not to subscribe will only be able to perform « read-only » actions: read articles, watch videos and follow accounts. They will not be able to post or interact (like, repost, quote, save) with content.

Do these measures really work ?🧐

As soon as he bought Twitter, now X, Elon Musk announced his crusade against bots on the platform. From the outset, he has been convinced that billing on the platform would prevent the influx of bots. In fact, this argument is regularly used to justify the new measures implemented on the platform, whether it be when Twitter APIs became chargeable, or when X Premium was launched with the verification badge. Except that bots have never been so present on the platform. Hardly a day goes by without users complaining that bots like their posts.

Charging for access to some of the platform’s features is therefore not bearing fruit, at least for the time being. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that this test will not be extended to all current users. We recall Elon Musk’s comments at a conference last month (which you can read by clicking here). If annual payment were to be introduced for all users, it would be reminiscent of what WhatsApp had tried in the distant past, with the « success » we all know.

Are you an X user? If so, what do you think of this new measure?

Source : Support X