X Users Are Threatening To Leave Platform After Elon Musk Teased Paywall
X, formerly Twitter, might see a massive exodus of users after CEO Elon Musk teased that he would implement a paywall on the social media platform, fueling outrage throughout the internet.
The X boss stated that the extra charges for all users must be made as they are the only way to deal with bots. This includes charging users a "mall monthly payment" in addition to paying for the platform's blue tick verification system, which also received much backlash.
With Musk teasing an X paywall, The Daily Mail reported that interest in Mark Zuckerberg's 'Twitter-killer' app Threads has increased.]
"The day Twitter becomes a pay only service is the day I move on," tweeted one user.
Another also stated, "I am done with Twitter the minute Musky tries to charge me for spending a minute here. Find me on Threads. It's free."
More and more are mentioning the X rival and threatening to delete their X accounts, with another user tweeting, "Start using Threads exclusively. Twitter will lose a few hundred million of users."
The controversial proposal was made when he had a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I'd say the single most important reason we're moving towards having a small monthly payment for use of the X system is that it's the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots," said the X CEO. "A bot costs a fraction of a penny, but if somebody has to pay a few dollars or something... you have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot."
Musk promised that X would come up with "lower tier pricing" and claimed they wanted it to be just a "small amount of money."
"It's a longer discussion, but in my view this is the only defense against vast armies of bots. As the AI gets really good it's getting better at passing the captcha tests than humans," he added.
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Elon Musk Tries To Get Taylor Swift To Help Boost Traffic on X
Since he took over, Elon Musk has been struggling to gain more traffic on the company formerly known as Twitter. Its name change to X, as well as its blue check paywall, ignited ridicule with memes and criticisms from even his most ardent supporters.
However, now, Musk is trying what experts call the "TSwift Lift" as the music superstar has generated much revenue in the cities and towns she visited as part of her Eras Tour.
According to Fortune, Musk replied to Swift's tweet regarding the release of her 1989 album, suggesting that she directly upload videos of her performances on the platform. However, the bestselling singer did not even reply to the controversial billionaire.
Taylor Swift Fans Roast Elon Musk Over Unsolicited Advice
With Musk's "advice" to Swift on X, her 94 million-plus followers quickly jumped on the billionaire and made fun of him.
"She's so powerful she has a literal billionaire looking for clout from her," replied one fan.
The San Francisco Chronicle noted that the roasting continued on other platforms, as one person on Reddit wrote, "This is amazing, I didn't know you could condescend and beg at the same time, but here we are,"
The backlash to Musk's "advice" even reached Google, as the company tweeted, "Swifties, the vault is jammed! But don't worry, there are no blank spaces inside. We're in our fix-it era and will be out of the woods soon."
READ MORE: X: Hateful Tweets Are on the Rise, but Elon Musk Wants To Sue the Researchers Who Found Out
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Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: 'It would lose millions of users': Elon Musk considers paywall for X app users - Sky News Australia