X changes revenue model to reward paying users, moving away from ads

Musk, despite promising earlier to remain politically neutral and balanced, has also burst out as a strong supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump [File]
| Photo Credit: AP

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X announced that it was changing its payment model, so that eligible users will be rewarded when other paid subscribers to X engage with their content, instead of being financially rewarded for ads in their replies.

“Ads in replies will no longer impact your payout. Instead, you’ll be paid based on engagement with your content from Premium users. So, when your followers subscribe to X Premium and engage with your content, they support you directly,” said a post from the official X account on October 9, as it promised that payouts would grow because the Premium offering was growing as well.

There are several Premium tiers, with India-based users getting options ranging from paying ₹215.87 monthly, or ₹340 monthly, to ₹680 monthly, with those who are paying the most getting a fully ad-free experience, a large reply boost, and the ability to write articles natively on X.

A number of verified accounts on X already post large volumes of what is known as “bait” in order to farm engagement and earn money from the same. This can include machine generated content, provocative media, offensive posts, etc.

While X previously backed ads in replies as a way to let users earn revenue, multiple large corporate advertisers have suspended their branding activities on the platform. Many were concerned about the optics of ad placements on a site where users have complained of rising hate speech.

Musk, despite promising earlier to remain politically neutral and balanced, has also emerged as a strong supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as conservative politics.