Elon Musk, the visionary behind the X platform (previously known as Twitter), has made waves yet again. Musk unveiled two impending subscription tiers for X Premium, previously termed as Twitter Blue. In a recent post on X, Musk elaborated, “Soon, we’ll launch two new X Premium subscriptions. One will be more affordable, encompassing all features, albeit accompanied by ads. The other will be priced higher, ensuring an ad-free experience.”
According to the Indian news outlet TOI, one of these tiers will be priced more affordably and will present all the platform’s features, but will incorporate advertisements, aligning with Musk’s statement. Conversely, the higher-priced tier promises subscribers an uninterrupted, ad-free experience.
In an interesting turn, the company has recently piloted a basic $1 annual plan in New Zealand and the Philippines. This plan guards core features such as posting, liking, and retweeting—features that have been complimentary for users for years. The company’s intent with this move is to diminish bot activity on the platform, emphasizing that profit generation is not the primary goal. As of now, there’s no clarity if this dollar plan will expand to other regions or when that might occur.
Earlier this week, as cited by Bloomberg, X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, engaged in discussions with stakeholders about this multi-tier premium subscription approach. Based on those deliberations, the existing $7.99 premium plan will be segmented into Basic, Standard, and Plus versions. These tiers will be priced according to the number of ads users witness. X’s aim with this tri-tiered strategy is to allure consumers who might be hesitant to pay the full price for premium service.
For $7.99, X Premium subscribers are privileged with priority rankings in conversations and searches, leading to greater visibility for their posts, and fewer ads. Additionally, this subscription grants users the capacity to draft a post up to 25,000 characters and upload 1080-pixel resolution videos. Subscribers also possess the luxury to modify a post up to five times within an hour or retract it entirely.
X’s innovative approach to user experience, with diversified subscription offerings, illustrates its dedication to evolving user needs in the ever-shifting landscape of social media.
