So "X" - nothing to see here. Elon's in control - Part XXX

starting a beef with Microsoft now

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/04/musk-vows-to-sue-as-microsoft-drops-twitter-from-its-ad-platform/

LeBron has form for this already so its just showing how clueless the Muskhards actually are.

That'll cover his interest payments.

And we already know he paid for 3 of those checkmark (King, LeBron, Shatner) himself, so that's only 25.

Think you are confused. What Musk is doing is the opposite of what you describe. The content twitter has comes from its creators... Musk isnt looking for subscriptions from people to view it. But the people creating it!

It's creators are also it's consumers and participants. You know the old cliche, that there can be no free lunch. And there can't be, it just doesn't work as a model that needs a lot of cash to run. Look at the traditional newspapers increasingly going behind pay walls. In time, I think what will remain free, will be regarded as highly suspect - either state sponsored propaganda or commercial marketing etc.

Like a lot of things in life, the free bits only last so long in order to create a new market and then they have to be paid for.

The subscriptions are for the content creators le bron. He is charging the people the platform will die without

Most of the ads that showed up as I scrolled twitter about 5 minutes ago were all for.... f*ck only knows what. They were in Chinese or something. No idea what the ads were for. That's the sign of a great advertising campaign.

Also a sign that big advertisers, ones who might actually advertise something relevant to me or at the very least in the language I speak, have reduced their advertising spend.

Everyone knows what the deal is with Twitter, Facebook etc. You're not the customer, you're the product. These sites make their money from advertising, APIs and user data, not from the general users. They need as many general users as possible and keep them by providing them with content to keep them engaged. That content comes from other users.

Twitters biggest selling point to general users is the content provided by celebrities, news sites etc, and the ability to engage in discussion on any topic quickly and easily. Now with Musk's changes, he's ruined the verification system which helps people know they're following or viewing tweets from the actual person, news or etc. When replying to celebs etc, your tweets are now given less weight compared to Twitter Blue subscribers. When discussing topics, news, entertainment etc, your tweets are now given less weight compared to Twitter Blue subscribers. And all of that affects what advertisers you have and how much they want to advertise on Twitter. On a reputation basis alone, advertisers see Twitter and Musk as being far more volatile and risky than before.

There is absolutely an argument to be made that Twitter as it was was unsustainable as a company, and there likely did need to be a decent reduction in staff numbers and overheads. Absolutely.

Twitter Blue and the other changes Musk has made to the usability of the site for the actual user base though, that's not part of the answer, that's causing entirely new and self-inflicted problems. The vast, vast majority are never going to pay for Twitter, because ultimately there are still numerous other avenues for them to get the same stuff for free; Twitter was at its most convenient for being a centralised location for it. But they will eventually go elsewhere rather than pay. And Musk has also given absolutely no reason for people to pay, and his entire attitude about it all has made the Blue tick now something that is being openly mocked.

Didn't see you make that point before responding to the same post.

Blue blocker addon

https://github.com/kheina-com/Blue-Blocker

So this has been a disaster already?

They have done this for government agencies/representatives.

The pope for example now has a grey tick, I'm not sure if this is paid for or given out by yet witter for free.

I agree that they could have done a whole range for users though.

So according to some the space x launch failed because Musk made the decision not to include flame diverters on the launch pad which caused the launch pad to basically disintegrate and fling debris into the engines.

Musk always seems to think he knows best.

Agree to a point, but Twitter isn't offering anything worthwhile for its subscription. Ability to edit tweets? Basic feature that should have been implemented long ago anyway, but even then people can just delete tweets and correct them, or post a clarification. Longer tweets? Goes against the benefit of twitter that forces people to be more concise. Longer videos? Tiktok and Instagram have shown that shorter videos get more engagement, and for anything longer people can just link to a YouTube video.

The only real benefit is promoting your tweets above non-Twitter Blue users. But of course, the more people who have Twitter Blue, the less benefit that has.

What you think Twitter needs to become in terms of subscription model etc, is never going to happen to the scale that Twitter was at, or needs. These are huge changes to the fundamental core of the site that people have been using for 10+ years, and is likely to drive the majority of users away the more and more the benefits of the site become locked behind a subscription model.

Subscription may be where some sites need to go, but not social media sites, because the entire core design around them is being able to easily and freely discuss with, engage with, or even just follow other people's accounts, share things with them, discuss with them. Twitter Blue is doing everything it can to reduce that. It doesn't work for what Twitter is, and will never generate the income Twitter needs it to to balance the debt Musk has landed the company with. Especially with the stigma now attached to the blue tick.

Musk again shooting himself in the foot.