this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Elon Musk said he will charge all X/Twitter users a fee to be on the platform. He suggested that such a change would be necessary to deal with the problem of bots on the platform.

“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots," said Elon. I can’t believe that this is the only solution he can think of.

Dealing with bots would be Elon Musk’s responsibility, considering he’s the only one profiting significantly from X, not us. Elon Musk steals our data and censors each of our posts, now he even expects us to pay to clean up the mess he created.

Plus, the problems with X go beyond just bots. The algorithm and programming decisions are negatively impacting user experience and manipulating people’s minds.

We want a town square where everyone is free to have & voice an opinion. I do not believe we have to pay ”a small monthly payment” for such a place, especially in a country that should value these freedoms & suppressing ideas.

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[–] [email protected] 196 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m not willing to use it now, for free… not sure if this plan will incentivize me to join up.

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[–] [email protected] 82 points 1 year ago

I'll tell you next week when I stop laughing.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 1 year ago

I'm not opposed to paying for services I enjoy/find value in, and from companies I don't dislike

Twitter does not pass these guidelines

[–] [email protected] 64 points 1 year ago

I wasn't even using it when it was free!

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I don't use Twitter for free

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Me too. But I have no problems with them penalizing the idiots that still remain.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (4 children)

At this point, I have to conclude that Musk is actively trying to kill Twitter.

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I suspect the majority of people who would pay for twitter already are.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And it's a laughably low amount.

Someone posted a few weeks ago that it's like 60,000 people who are blue checked and not getting it for free.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not even willing to use it for free 💀

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I'd be willing to use it if I get paid though. 10$/month and I'd even post something once in a while.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Twitter ad sales have plunged 50% since he bought the company

Can't imagine why.... Nope

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh yes, certainly. Wow Mr Musk you’re such a genius and good decision maker, please start charging for Twitter. Please don’t listen to the naysayers and go ahead with the brilliant business strategy. I’m definitely not taking delight in your constant series of self-owns.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wouldn't use twitter if they paid me

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

I would pay them for a product that suppresses all news about Elon musk so i dont have to read about him every other day. Now that's a growth market.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I hate twitter!

Use mastodon.

Twitter has just gotten worse and worse!

Use mastodon.

If only there were some other platform!

...

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Here's the thing - you don't need either of them

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

and you don’t need lemmy/kbin either, but yknow we like it

what’s your point?

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’d be willing to pay $100/month for it. Please charge at least that much!

Pay no attention to the fact that I used it once for like a week 15 years ago. That’s only because it was too free!

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

I refused to use this cancerous hellsite long before its 'fall' what makes you think I want to use it now?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't be willing to use if I was getting paid.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)

A monthly fee seems idiotic but yes please do it! Please!

That said I think a $5 signup fee on Mastodon or Lemmy that is not refunded if you get banned would seriously help stop bots. They only make pennies per bot and if you make their cost even minimally painful the economics fall apart.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It would also stop most regular users from signing up. This kind of stuff being free has just become the norm.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't use fascist websites at all, I'm certainly not going to pay for one. Come now.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

We have reached the point where I want answers from any person or organization that is still active on twitter. They are actively legitimizing nazis. If you are on twitter, you are part of the problem. I’m not gonna draw lines around which people on a right wing reactionary platform are the “good ones” any more.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

One more wave for Mastodon for sure.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, Twitter/X always been shit. Yes even before Elon Musk became the CTO. It was awful under Jack Dorsey.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It was actually a lot of fun for alt comedy and staying in touch with friends 10-15 years ago. Once Trump won in 2016 it turned into a nonstop tire fire with him pouring kerosene on it daily. It never completely recovered from that, and obviously it’s gotten far far worse under Elon. That’s when I finally had to cut ties, even if it’s been fading for years.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I hope he actually does this. Twitter will die almost immediately and become completely worthless.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Then he can file bankruptcy and not have to pay back the loans he took out to buy Twitter

I think it's all his plan. Naming it X was the big red flag for me

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He would need to pay me for being there, and not just a little.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (9 children)

If I had to pay to use a social media service, it would have to be something I found utterly necessary. I'm not a fan of the trend toward everything being a subscription, so if any service unexpectedly changes to a subscription based service, I'm far more likely to experiment with cutting it out of my life and routine to see if I really needed it to begin with. So far out of the hundreds of subscription service I've had over the last 15 years, I've resubscribed to only 10 or so, and out of those only 3 where because I genuinely valued the service enough to pay for it, rather then because I had gotten an offer for 3 months free, then terminated the account before I was charged for anything. Why pay a provider to use my data for profit and show me ads I have no interest in or desire to see? If I wanted commercials I would watch cable, instead of using a streaming service I explicit choose for not showing constant ads.

I would treat Lemmy the same way. If I had to pay, I wouldn't play. There are other options for my time, simple as that.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you want a free (in all its meanings) platform to speak on just use Mastodon

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Oh wait, you're serious. Let me laugh even harder!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

You would have to pay me, for me to be there

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think this marks the true end of twitter. Undoubtedly, some people will literally pay to have ol' muskys thoughts shoved in their face and get their data collected, see garbage alt-right memes but if he fails, if he can't even make it a premium-feeling cult experience now... (which obviously his vision, but let's be real it's a longshot- he's only gonna be a clown) I don't see it lasting much longer.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (42 children)

For those that are saying "no" because it's Musk: would you be willing to pay to your account on Lemmy, Mastodon, or any other social network that you happen to use?

Let me be specific: I am not asking if you donate or contribute to any server. I am asking if you'd sign up to a social network that required payment from every user as a measure to avoid spammers and to keep the service running.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (11 children)

No. Not today at any rate. I probably would have supported a subscription for Reddit 5-8 years ago. The community and content was better. Lemmy/Kbin/Mastodon hasn’t caught up to that level yet so I don’t see a point in paying for that. Facebook has gone full stupid - they should pay me for all the data mining they use me and my connections for. I rarely use FB for the social aspect anymore, I belong to many hobby and interest groups on it and use it more like a forum than a “highlight reel of my life” thing.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

lol. He is just stirring the pot. It’s what he does. I recommend ignoring him and just using something else. It is either going to sink or not.

Ex-twitter seems to me to be going in a disjointed “by the seat of the pants” direction. It’s like a kid playing with his new toy. “My toy, I make the rules and I don’t care what you think.”

The thing is, it technically is his toy. It is not a global square. It is a private company. I take issue with what has been going on, but my opinions are irrelevant to the situation.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

The real question is how much would I accept in payment to use Twitter. It's probably not a lot, but it surely is not negative.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

YES, I will absolutely pay for X every month! Greatest idea he’s ever had.

Yes to the polls, but no chance in hell

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

I am so tired of seeing this goon on my feed

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I hate Musk because as an artist there are many artist on twitter (X) that I really like. One of it is Naoki Saito & Mika Pikazo and then some useful things likes pose maniac to help out artist to get pose ideas. A lot of Japanese makes oneshot or it's continuous story manga on twitter. The reason why I stay a little longer because of the artist of twitter but now I will slowly drift away on twitter.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

They should at least be double posting to Twitter and Mastodon.

You don't lose reach by posting to more places.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

For this money I would rather donate, pay for membership or create my own Mastodon instance.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Urgh why is this "technology"

It all sounds like "Dude is thinking about maybe making changes on some thing ..."

But yeah from now on I'll just downvote.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't use Twitter even if it was the one paying ME

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