Elon Musk has announced Twitter’s latest push to get people to pay $84 (Ksh.11,054) a year for the social network: Twitter will promote only paid subscribers’ tweets, and non-subscribers will not be allowed to vote in polls.
Twitter’s “For You” tab, the first screen that users see when they open the app, curates tweets by using an algorithm. That means it can surface tweets from people you don’t follow. The For You tab will soon only recommend people who pay for the premium Twitter Blue service.
“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations,” he announced in a tweet Monday evening. “This is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.”
Appearing in the “For You” feed helps users build their number of followers. Voting in polls doesn’t benefit users in the same way, but blocking them from voting may prompt some to sign up for the paid service.
Musk frequently posts his own polls on Twitter, asking users everything from whether he should give up his position as CEO of the platform to whether he should sell shares of Tesla stock.
Although Musk said Twitter is making the change to battle with bot accounts, he later tweeted “That said, it’s ok to have verified bot accounts if they follow terms of service & don’t impersonate a human.”
It is part of Musk’s plans to shift Twitter away from being almost completely dependent on advertising dollars for its revenue. A significant portion of Twitter’s ad base has left the platform since Musk took over in October.
Last week, Musk announced that users who have had a free blue checkmark – typically government officials, celebrities, members of the media and other high profile users – would lose that free verification starting in April unless they agree to pay a subscription fee – either $84 (Ksh.11,054) annually or $8 (Ksh.1,052) a month.
Musk and actor William Shatner clashed on Twitter over the weekend, when Shatner objected to the idea of paying for the checkmark.
“Hey @elonmusk what’s this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter?” Shatner tweeted. “I’ve been here for 15 years giving my time & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free?”
Musk responded to Shatner on Sunday in a tweet: “It’s more about treating everyone equally. There shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities.”
