Twitter was free, but X will no longer be. Starting today, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform will begin charging new users a flat fee of $1 a year if they want to post content or interact with other tweets. The new subscription plan, called ‘Not A Bot’, will start in two countries – New Zealand and the Philippines.
“Starting today, we’re testing a new program (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines. New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected,” X said in a post, indicating that the subscription fee will also be launched in other countries in the future and will likely bring existing users within its fold.
X, previously called Twitter, announced the new subscription fee in a post which drew shock, chagrin and ominous predictions. Many felt that charging users for the very basic functions of a social media platform would sound the death knell for X.
“Yep, that’s it. That’s the official death of Twitter,” wrote one user.
Yep, that's it. That's the official death of twitter. https://t.co/USd35rk8iu
— Damo☂️ comms open! (@DamoSparker) October 18, 2023
New users who would not wish to subscribe will only be able to view and read posts, watch videos and follow accounts.
Starting today, we're testing a new program (Not A Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines. New, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected.
This…
— Support (@Support) October 17, 2023
Bots have been a contentious issue for Elon Musk who acquired the company last year. In July, X had introduced a limit on viewing tweets, “to ensure the authenticity” of its user base.
This man bought Twitter for $44 Billion and has absolutely tanked it. It’s incredible. Like $1 a year is going to stop bots 😂😂
— Austin (@AustinPlanet) October 18, 2023
Earlier this month, Reuters had reported citing a source that X CEO Linda Yaccarino met with X’s lenders, in which she had said the company would test three tiers of its subscription service based on the number of ads shown to the user.