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X may introduce a small monthly fee in the future? Musk: The amount is very small, to combat bots.

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X may introduce a small monthly fee in the future? Musk: The amount is very small, to combat bots.

After becoming the new owner of Twitter, Musk has brought about various reforms, not only abandoning the original blue bird logo but also adding many new features to the subscription service. Today, he revealed that using X in the future may require payment. What is the purpose of this?

Will X Possibly Charge All Users in the Future?

According to a report by TechCrunch, Elon Musk mentioned during a live broadcast with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today that X may introduce a small monthly payment mechanism in the future to address the issue of bots on the platform.

"This is the only way I can think of to combat the massive army of bots."

Musk assumed that the cost of creating a bot was initially 0.01 USD, but even if each account were to pay a few dollars per month in the future, it would significantly increase the cost of bot accounts. Additionally, a new payment method is required for each bot created.

The price and implementation date of the monthly fee are currently unknown, but Musk stated that the amount would be minimal.

What is the Subscription Status of X? Price Expected to be Below 8 USD

In addition to revealing the potential future charging plan, Musk also mentioned that X currently has around 550 million users per month, with approximately 1-2 billion posts being made daily.

However, the introduction of a charging policy may not be readily accepted by many users accustomed to using free products, potentially leading to an exodus from X.

According to a report by Mashable, as of mid-August this year, X had around 828,000 subscription users, accounting for only 0.15% of the total user base, indicating that the vast majority of users do not pay.

Furthermore, the current subscription fee for X is 8 USD per month, suggesting that any future charges to regular users will be below this price.

Using X Still Free, But Could Introduce Small Verification Payments Update on 9/20

After news spread that X might start charging more users, X News Daily, a platform dedicated to reporting X news, clarified that this information was somewhat misconstrued.

X News Daily stated that according to Musk, he did not announce any new features, and the use of X will remain free. However, if users wish to have a broader impact on certain functions such as monetizing traffic, they will need to verify their accounts through payments.

Additionally, X user Asmaa further added that Musk mentioned in his biography that lower-tier payment options, amounting to 2 USD, are being considered to enable more people to verify their accounts and address the bot issue. Nevertheless, even for unverified users, the use of X will remain free.