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Subscription, integrated currency… How Twitter is trying to replenish its coffers after the takeover of Elon Musk

2023-01-12T17:20:35.787Z


To avoid bankruptcy, the social network bought by Elon Musk has launched several paid features. Sometimes risky bets for u


Twitter accounts are at their worst, and Elon Musk seems ready to do anything to correct the situation.

After taking over the famous social network last October, the boss of Tesla and SpaceX has undertaken to improve the accounting of the platform for which he has paid 44 billion dollars – and which is running, at any time, towards bankruptcy.

To replenish the coffers of the company, which accuses, according to Musk, 4 million dollars of loss every day, Twitter has designed - or considered - several programs to pocket some money from its users, and to make the platform more attractive for its advertisers.

Towards “Coins” to remunerate the best tweets

Latest project: a single currency for Twitter.

Employees of the social network are currently working on "Coins", ("coins", in French), an internal currency system that would allow Internet users to pay "creators who tweet good content", reads a notice of explanation published on Monday by hacker Jane Manchun Wong, accustomed to revelations of new applications in Silicon Valley.

Twitter is working on Coins purchasing screen



On the web, Twitter Coins purchase will be done through Stripe https://t.co/RFpWswnZfG pic.twitter.com/eAzPWjfoye

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) January 10, 2023

These digital coins will make it possible to buy online "Awards", i.e. rewards, worth one coin for a "Mind Blown" award, and up to 5000 coins for a "Mind Blown" award. Gold”.

These coins can be acquired via the Stripe payment system, explains the hacker.

The Chinese hacker, however, does not explain how much the famous "Coins" will cost in dollars, nor when this new option will be launched.

Twitter Blue, a controversial subscription

Launched this winter, Twitter Blue, the platform's paid subscription system, allows users to have a small blue certification badge for eight or eleven dollars a month.

Initially launched in November, the program had a few hiccups: during the first trial, several jokers hijacked the certification system to mimic official brand or company accounts, and publish false information or controversial images.

we're relaunching @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DvvsLoSO50

— Twitter (@Twitter) December 10, 2022

Reworked, Twitter Blue resumed in December.

In addition to certification, it allows subscribers to organize tweets into folders, customize the theme, their icons and navigation, and transform threads into more readable formats.

For now, it's only available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

"We are also working on a new service, Twitter Blue for Business, dedicated to companies on Twitter and which allows them to have a golden badge for their official accounts", specifies the platform.

An aggressive advertising policy

Frightened by Twitter's new moderation rules, many companies (General Motors, Chipotle, Ford, Jeep, Volkswagen, Merck & Co, or even Novartis) that bought ads on the platform turned their backs on it this winter, leading to significant revenue declines.

A huge damage for the income of the social network, which, before the arrival of Elon Musk, depended 90% on advertisements in 2021.

Consequence: at the beginning of December, the company was forced to carry out a massive operation to seduce advertisers, by offering to double the value of their advertising expenditure, says the Wall Street Journal.

To raise more revenue, Twitter announced in early January that it will allow the return of political ads, allowing elected officials or activist groups to pay for content promoting their cause.

The practice was however banned in 2019, when several social networks were accused of spreading false information influencing election results.

Paid videos on hold

According to internal e-mails obtained by The Washington Post, Twitter was also working this winter on “Paywalled Video,” a feature that pays to view certain videos.

Four tariffs were already fixed: 1 dollar, 2 dollars, 5 dollars and 10 dollars.

The project, which was to be born after the takeover by Elon Musk of the platform, however, has not been mentioned since November.

In the internal discussions consulted by the American daily, Twitter employees already pointed out that it was a highly sensitive project: such an option could encourage the publication (already authorized, but limited) of adult content, or copyrighted works.

It could also promote scams.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2023-01-12

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