Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, has announced that the social media platform will soon be introducing a new feature that will allow media publishers to charge users on a per-article basis with just one click. The move, set to launch in May, is expected to benefit both the public and media organizations by providing an alternative to monthly subscriptions.
The feature will enable users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher price for occasional articles without the hassle of subscription sign-ups. Musk wrote in a tweet that the new platform “should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public”.
In addition, Musk revealed that Twitter would take a 10% cut on content subscriptions after the first year, with no cut taken in the first 12 months. These changes are part of a series of moves by Musk to increase Twitter’s revenue and improve the platform’s products and organization since he took over in October.
Musk has implemented numerous changes to boost Twitter’s revenue after the platform’s advertising income dropped last year leading up to his on-and-off acquisition that eventually went through. These changes have included offering Twitter’s verified blue tick as a paid service and reducing the employee base by about 80%.
However, some Twitter users have raised concerns about how the new feature will affect authors who contribute articles. One user commented on Musk’s tweet, “And what about the authors who contribute such articles? In India, authors are paid minimal, and even nothing most of the times, even when they contribute very good articles. Even the royalty amount for a best-seller book is a meagre 10%. And it’s across the board…”
Another user asked, “Can we have a preloaded amount added to our twitter so I don’t have 100 charges for $1 through my bank?”
Despite these concerns, the move has generally been well received by Twitter users who are excited about the prospect of paying only for the articles they are interested in, rather than being tied to monthly subscriptions.
