(Paris) “A small monthly payment” to use social network X? The umpteenth suggestion from its owner Elon Musk on Monday, intended to reduce the number of robots on the platform, seems logical from an economic point of view, but could also “decimate” its user base, according to experts.
In an interview with Mr. Musk on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue of anti-Semitism online and how X could “prevent the use of robots – armies of robots – to reproduce it and amplify it.”
Bots – accounts run by computer programs rather than humans – are common on X, where they can be used to artificially amplify political messages or fan the flames of racial hatred.
Mr. Musk responded that the company was “moving toward a small monthly payment for using System X.”
“It’s the only way I can think of to fight vast armies of robots,” he said. “Because a robot costs a fraction of a cent – call it a tenth of a cent – but if someone has to pay even a few dollars, a minor amount, the effective cost of robots is very high. »
A lead that made users of the social network jump, which now has “550 million monthly users” according to Musk. As of May 2022, Twitter reported having approximately 230 million daily active users.
“If he really does it, it’s going to kill the site. No matter the cost. Most people won’t pay […] It will kill the site and the ad revenue in one fell swoop. It’s incredible”, for example, reacted on the social network Ed Zitron, boss of a media relations company and columnist for the media Business Insider.
The “tech” mogul has made many changes since taking over the network for $44 billion in October last year, when it was known as Twitter.
It laid off thousands of employees, introduced a paid option, removed content moderation and reinstated formerly banned accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump.
In July, he said the platform had lost about half of its advertising revenue.
The implementation of the premium “Blue” service, a subscription between 8 and 11 dollars per month to enjoy certain privileges – such as having the blue check mark to certify your profile, seeing fewer advertisements, publishing longer tweets and videos, canceling or edit a tweet, etc. –, did not have the expected success either.
According to data from Travis Brown, a software developer specializing in social media, less than 5% of the 407,000 accounts that had the old free blue badge subscribed.
“From a business model point of view, you could say it’s a good option for Twitter” to charge its users, because the company “has never managed to set up a successful advertising system compared to other social platforms like Meta,” James Cooper, director of the “Business of Apps” agency, told AFP.
“However, the value of Twitter lies in the network effect of having a large user base. Universal pricing of the service would decimate the user base and therefore destroy the value of the network,” he warns.
“At this stage, the best solution would be to increase the value of its paid subscription services, by improving its advertising offering and considering new revenue streams like transactions, rather than forcing everyone to pay for the current service,” he further added.
The conversation between MM. Musk and Netanyahu, which was broadcast on
Musk accused the ADL of making unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism that scared away advertisers and hurt his company’s revenue, and threatened to sue it for billions of dollars.
