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X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

fortune.com

41–50 of 181 posts

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#41
post #20

in related news, a new "private browser" tab with Google Image Search just asked me if I want to "sign in with fingerprints or eyescan" possible answers -- later or Let's Go

How is that related news?

what are the credentials being asked for by X ? Does their roadmap include biometrics? Its not fiction, this google prompt just really happened minutes ago.. first time here

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#42
post #4

I know people are down on the-social-networking-platform-formerly-known-as-twitter, and I have no skin in the game, I gave up on social networking about a decade ago, but I think this is the model to beat. Forever the FOSS world has said, "if you do not pay for the product, you are the product". Well, here is X trying to make a product you pay for. I do not know their new policy on tracking/ads/spying but even if the…

> "if you do not pay for the product, you are the product"

Yeah, I think we moved from that one to "you're the product, regardless if you pay or not"

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#43
post #19

>Musk said “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots.” With so many of these billionaires and CEOs it is becoming impossible to tell whether they are transparently lying or complete idiots. Just admit you need the revenue and you want people to put a card on file to lower the bar for future financial transactions. Charging for a service doesn't eliminate bots, it just shifts the financial break…

It must shift it by a lot, right? I would think the cost of a twitter bot would be in the neighborhood of a fraction of a cent/year.

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#44

This is going to kill engagement. 90% of people don't care enough to pay for that and any sort of barrier will lower engagement. Twitter/X is going to be use this as a way to fight spammers and bots but those accounts never had a problem paying or using stolen money.

> This is going to kill engagement. Maybe! The people who are still left must really like Twitter. I think charging a token amount to limit who can post from a Sybil attack mitigation perspective might actually be reasonable, and it’s exciting that someone who doesn’t care if they lose is willing to perform the experiment. If you’re not willing to pay at least a dollar to post, maybe your content doesn’t have any val…

> If you’re not willing to pay at least a dollar to post, maybe your content doesn’t have any value to the audience or platform.

Said $1 fee would kill my audience, and therefore my incentive for posting there.

It's an inverse network effect, and why bad changes to social networks cause the death spiral effect.

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#45
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Well, here is X trying to make a product you pay for. No, this is an attempt to have it both ways. To do data collection / data brokerage and ALSO charge users for the service.

I think X should get credit for this move anyways. Them charging for access may make more people comfortable with the idea of paying for social networking, so that in the future more people will join when new social networks are made that don’t mine the data of the people

> Them charging for access may make more people comfortable with the idea of paying for social networking, so that in the future more people will join when new social networks are made that don’t mine the data of the people

Won’t that just make people get used to paying and having their data sold? Why would future companies not follow that same model?

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#46
post #4

I know people are down on the-social-networking-platform-formerly-known-as-twitter, and I have no skin in the game, I gave up on social networking about a decade ago, but I think this is the model to beat. Forever the FOSS world has said, "if you do not pay for the product, you are the product". Well, here is X trying to make a product you pay for. I do not know their new policy on tracking/ads/spying but even if the…

They are killing their golden egg-laying goose. It's good.

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#47
post #4

I know people are down on the-social-networking-platform-formerly-known-as-twitter, and I have no skin in the game, I gave up on social networking about a decade ago, but I think this is the model to beat. Forever the FOSS world has said, "if you do not pay for the product, you are the product". Well, here is X trying to make a product you pay for. I do not know their new policy on tracking/ads/spying but even if the…

Agreed. It might also increase confidence that the information you're seeing isn't just a product of a giant bot farm trying to shape public opinion. I, for one, would be willing to pay a little extra if the only "likes" that calibrate my feed are those coming from people paying at the same payment level as me.

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#48
post #19

>Musk said “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots.” With so many of these billionaires and CEOs it is becoming impossible to tell whether they are transparently lying or complete idiots. Just admit you need the revenue and you want people to put a card on file to lower the bar for future financial transactions. Charging for a service doesn't eliminate bots, it just shifts the financial break…

And on top of everything, the bot problem seems worse than ever in the past year. I'm noticing it more even despite spending less time there because the top replies to large accounts are all so worthless now. I have to imagine the problem is even worse for people spending more time there.

Re: X/Twitter will begin charging new users $1 a year to access key features

#49
Charging $1/year for the ability to tweet and retweet should reduce spammers significantly.

But don't journalists in oppressive regimes (e.g. Venezuela, China, Russia, Myanmar, Arab Spring) use twitter to share information? They could previously share information with nothing more than an internet connection, but now they'd be required to enter payment info; what does that do for their anonymity?

If the idea is to improve accountability for posted content, this $1 charge might work, but only for those who are allowed to speak, not for the sizeable portion of the world's population who aren't and whose lives will be at risk if their identities are revealed. The sad conclusion is that those journalists may simply stop posting as it's not worth the risk to their lives.

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