Content Writer 
After suffering a 71% loss from 44 billion USD, the billionaire Elon Musk decided to make more changes to X (formerly Twitter) in a floundering attempt to remove bots.
The Law of Musk
In April 16th 2024, Elon Musk announced via his X account (@elonmusk) through an interaction with X Daily News (@xDaily) that he is to consider implementing a paywall to new X user’s to enable interactions. The said interaction includes liking, replying, and bookmarking posts, content posting, and sending direct messages. This policy, however, only applies for the first three months after the account was created. After the three month trial, users will be able to interact freely.
In Demolishing Engagement Farming
The new policy is aimed to target posts by automated accounts, which just recently came flooding into the social media. The efforts in order to limit the amount of automated bots has been done back in 2022, a “system purge” that traces real beholders of automated spam accounts responsible for engagement farming, is one of the first few tries that has been done. Other efforts to lessen the amount of fake accounts is done through testing a “Not A Bot” program in New Zealand and The Philippines.
Money, The Solution to All Problems
The “Not A Bot” program which previously had been done in October 2023, requires the users to pay an annual fee of $1 for enabling basic interaction function. Not long after, X came with two new premium packages for verified users. Pricing at $3 and $16 a month, this premium package enables many features unavailable in unverified accounts such as editing posts and boosts the account engagement. This acute attempt to remove the bots however, was almost seen as an underlying attempt to flood in a new source of cash after Musk experienced almost 71% loss in ad revenue.
So Much for Free Speech
Elon Musk believes that X could become a trillion dollar company, despite the challenges he’s been facing after buying them and laying off almost 80% of the employees. And after doing drastic changes to the social media platform, these little steps are forecasted to be a rebrand from social media to an “everything app”. Many would see this as unconventional, but Musk seems to be determined in building the trillion dollar empire. Even at the cost of losing a handful of its users.
Writer: Rebecca Karenia
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Reference:
- Duboust, O. (2024, April 18). Elon Musk says he’s planning to charge ‘a small fee’ for new users to interact on X. Euronews. From https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/04/18/elon-musk-says-hes-planning-to-charge-a-small-fee-for-new-users-to-interact-on-x accessed in April 20 2024.
- Ifijeh, F. (2024, April 19). Elon Musk To Suspend X Accounts Involved In Engagement Farming. The Will. From https://thewillnews.com/elon-musk-to-suspend-x-accounts-involved-in-engagement-farming/#google_vignette accessed in April 20 2024.
- Pequeno IV, A. (2024, April 4). Musk’s X Says Its Purging Bots— Here’s How The Platform Has Struggled To Squash Its Bot Problem. Forbes. From https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/04/04/musks-x-says-its-purging-bots-heres-how-the-platform-has-struggled-to-squash-its-bot-problem/?sh=6af2ba2f2f56 accessed in April 20 2024.
- Pequeno IV, A. (2023, October 17). X Will Charge New Accounts $1 For Basic Functions Like Posting In New Zealand And The Philippines. Forbes. From https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/10/17/x-will-charge-new-accounts-1-for-basic-functions-like-posting-in-new-zealand-and-the-philippines/?sh=5e6ae6044927 accessed in April 20 2024.
- Hart, R. (2023, August 23). Elon Musk Thinks X Could Become A Trillion Dollar Company—Here Are The Challenges Facing The Platform Since He Took Over. Forbes. From https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/08/23/elon-musk-thinks-x-could-become-a-trillion-dollar-company-here-are-the-challenges-facing-the-platform-since-he-took-over/?sh=2d644c55bfbd accessed in April 20 2024.
