Since Elon Musk took the helm of Twitter, his every decision has been closely scrutinised, often under fire. His dismissal of more than 6,000 employees shortly after acquiring the company represented a massive reduction in the workforce - more than 80 % of it. Unfortunately, this reduction in the workforce did not have the desired impact, as by June 2023, experts estimated that the value of Twitter (X) had fallen by two-thirds since the acquisition.
In this difficult economic climate, it is imperative to make the colossal $44 billion investment pay off. Elon Musk has enthusiastically tried to relaunch a revamped version of the Twitter Blue subscription, which offers benefits such as 25,000-character tweets, tweet editing and a less ad-ridden experience. However, it has not been a commercial success. According to Mashable, the Premium X service, formerly known as Twitter Blue, only had around 650,000 subscribers in April 2023.
Elon Musk wants to charge for Twitter to strengthen security
Twitter's finances are dwindling by the day, as more and more advertisers desert the platform. In an interview with the Israeli Prime Minister broadcast on Twitter, the American entrepreneur announced a measure that could help to replenish the coffers: the introduction of a general subscription. This new subscription would cost less than the €9.60 charged to French Twitter Blue subscribers, and according to Mr Musk, it would strengthen the security of the service.
He explained: "The main reason we're thinking of introducing a small monthly fee for using Twitter is that it's the only solution I can think of to counter the large armies of bots". In his opinion, the introduction of a paid subscription would constitute an effective barrier against the creation of accounts by robots, as "each robot would have to associate a new credit card". No date has yet been announced for the implementation of this measure, as discussions between senior executives are still ongoing.
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