Elon Musk

Musk announces that Twitter will allow media publishers to charge users for access to their content with just one click. The exact percentage of each transaction that will go to Twitter and the conditions for media publishers have not yet been disclosed. Musk claims that this will be beneficial for both media organisations and the public.

Rolling out next month, this platform will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click. This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article. Should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public.

Rolling out next month, this platform will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click.

This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article.…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2023

Musk says content creators on Twitter will now make money through Subscriptions rather than Super Follows.

Apply to offer your followers subscriptions of any material, from longform text to hours long video! Just tap on “Monetization” in settings.

But, the subscription program appears mostly unchanged from Super Follows, which Twitter originally introduced as a way for creators to charge for exclusive tweets. Creators can charge $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99 a month, with exclusive content including subscriber-only chats in Twitter Spaces and special badges for subscribers.

Musk also says Twitter will help promote creators’ content (he does not elaborate on how) and will not take a cut of the revenue for “the next 12 months.” Instead, creators will get all that remains after app store and payment processing fees: about 70 percent of their earnings from mobile and 92 percent from web-based subscriptions.

For the next 12 months, Twitter will keep none of the money.

You will receive whatever money we receive, so that’s 70% for subscriptions on iOS & Android (they charge 30%) and ~92% on web (could be better, depending on payment processor).

After first year, iOS & Android fees…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2023

Musk makes his Twitter account private – only visible to his followers – after hearing reports from users that posts on private accounts were getting more reach than public accounts. Normally, an account would see less engagement when going private as doing this blocks users from being able to retweet posts. When a Twitter user showed that, of two similar tweets posted in the same five-minute period, the one posted when the account was locked received five times as many likes, Musk replies:

Wow, this is extremely concerning

Followed by:

Made my account private until tomorrow morning to test whether you see my private tweets more than my public ones

This helped identify some issues with the system. Should be addressed by next week.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2023

Some users questioned why Musk was doing this test, when he owns the platform.

Musk says Twitter is planning an advertising-free version of its subscription product. Increasing subscription revenue is a key part of the social media platform’s business plan under his ownership.

There will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads.

Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2023

Musk says Twitter verification will return on Friday next week with colour-coded categories for individuals, government accounts and companies.

Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week. Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates. Painful, but necessary.

All verified individual humans will have same blue check, as boundary of what constitutes “notable” is otherwise too subjective. Individuals can have secondary tiny logo showing they belong to an org if verified as such by that org. Longer explanation next week.

Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week.

Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.

Painful, but necessary.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022

After a user complains about a Twitter thread that is 82 posts long, Musk says:

Ability to do long tweets coming soon

Ability to do long tweets coming soon

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2022

Musk later says he is working on the project personally.

Musk announces that the revamped Twitter Blue will cost $8; will grant a verified user blue tick; priorities in replies, mentions and replies; ability to post long video and audio; and have half as many ads. The price will be adjusted by country.

Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month. Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity, You will also get:

• Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
• Ability to post long video & audio
• Half as many ads

And paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us. This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators. There will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.

Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.

Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022