The Paywall of Death

Not content with rebranding Twitter to X — and with it, destroying 15 years of brand legacy that was baked into the cultural fabric, all in favor of a whimsical, petulant obsession with a letter — Musk has a new plan that is sure to destroy what little is left.

During a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, Musk said X would come out with a “lower tier of pricing” of “a small amount of money” that all users would have to pay, in addition to the premium service, X Blue. His reasoning behind the surprise statement is that it is the “only way [he] can think of to combat vast armies of bots.” His theory goes that bot accounts can be set up for pennies, so forcing everyone to pay something, even a few dollars, makes running vast bot campaigns much more expensive and may deter some of the biggest perpetrators.

Why do we assume that the bots won’t continue regardless? Since Musk took over, the bot problem seems to worsen with each passing day. A few dollars may add up, but it’s still relatively cheap if bad actors can use these accounts to sway public opinion, smear somebody, or scam somebody.

It will prove wildly unpopular, and many will head for the exit door. What good is removing bots if the majority of the user base also leaves? It’s all good and well waxing lyrical about creating a public town square. But fulfilling its potential requires a mix of people, races, beliefs and opinions — not just an army of Musk fanboys in an echo chamber.

Wabsite