Subscriptions, integrated currency… How Twitter is trying to replenish its coffers after Elon Musk’s takeover
Twitter accounts are in the worst shape and Elon Musk seems willing to do anything to fix the situation. After taking over the popular social network in October last year, the boss of Tesla and SpaceX has pledged to improve the accounting of the platform, which he paid $44 billion for – and which is heading for bankruptcy at any moment.
To save the coffers of the accusing company, According to the maskTwitter, which loses $4 million every day, has developed or considers several programs to pocket a few dollars from its users and make the platform more attractive to advertisers.
Towards “Coins” to reward the best tweets
Latest project: A single currency for Twitter. The employees of the social network are currently working on “Coins” (“coins” in French), an internal currency system that allows Internet users to pay “creators who tweet good content”. Monday by Jane Manchun Wong, a hacker used to discovering new applications in Silicon Valley.
These digital coins will allow you to buy online “Rewards” i.e. rewards worth one coin for the “Mind Blown” reward and up to 5000 coins for the “Mind Blown” reward. “Gold”. These coins can be purchased through the Stripe payment system, the hacker explains. The Chinese hacker did not say how much the famous “Coins” will cost in dollars and when this new option will be available.
Twitter Blue, a controversial subscription
Twitter Blue, the platform’s paid subscription system that launched this winter, allows users to own a small blue certificate badge for eight or eleven dollars a month. The app, which was originally launched in November, had a few hiccups: during the first test, several pranksters hijacked the certificate system to impersonate official brand or company accounts and post false information or controversial images.
The redesigned Twitter Blue was reinstated in December. In addition to certification, it allows subscribers to organize tweets into folders, customize the topic, their icons and navigation, and convert topics into more readable formats. For now, it’s only available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. “We’re also working on a new Twitter Blue for Business service dedicated to businesses on Twitter that will allow them to have a gold badge for their official accounts.” identify the platform.
Aggressive advertising policy
Fearing Twitter’s new moderation rules, many companies that advertise on the platform (General Motors, Chipotle, Ford, Jeep, Volkswagen, Merck & Co, even Novartis) turned away from it this winter, leading to a significant drop in revenue. Prior to Elon Musk’s arrival, the social network, which was 90% dependent on advertising in 2021, suffered a huge loss of revenue.
The result: In early December, the company was forced to conduct a massive operation to trick advertisers by offering to double the cost of their ad spend, the Wall Street Journal reported. In an effort to generate more revenue, Twitter announced in early January that it would allow political advertising returns, allowing elected officials or activist groups to pay for content promoting their causes. However, this practice was banned in 2019, when several social networks were accused of spreading false information that influenced election results.
Paid videos are on hold
Twitter was also working on a “Paywalled Video” feature this winter, according to internal emails obtained by The Washington Post. Four rates had already been set: $1, $2, $5, and $10.
The project, which will be born after the takeover of the platform by Elon Musk, has not been mentioned since November. In internal discussions consulted by the American daily, Twitter employees have already noted that this is a very sensitive project: such an option could encourage the publication of adult content or copyrighted works (already allowed, but limited). It can also encourage fraud.
