Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been suggested by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to introduce a payment structure that makes it expensive for bots to comment on tweets by people they do not follow. This structure would also generate revenue for the micro-blogging platform.
CZ suggested that users can pay for it using cryptocurrency and the payment would be shareable between Twitter and its users. CZ promised to donate all his proceeds to charity if Twitter implements the idea.
Another way to reduce bots and increase revenue is to add an option “people you don’t follow need to pay $0.x to comment”. This will make it expensive for bots, and can be easily implemented with crypto. Twitter can take a cut, increased revenue. I will donate all my proceeds to… https://t.co/a2iETArO91
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) April 22, 2023
The suggestion was made during a conversation between Elon Musk, renowned venture capitalist Paul Graham and CZ regarding Twitter’s monetization of the “blue tick” verification symbol. Graham had tweeted that deleting the original blue checks makes it easier to see what proportion of users pay for them.
He identified a pattern among his followers who have subscribed to the Twitter Blue check. According to Graham, a higher percentage of the blue check subscribers on his followers’ list are tech-inclined. The rate of Blue Check subscription among those he follows who are not in tech is only 10%. He considers this pattern suspicious.
Twitter’s Blue Check Subscription Model
I’ll pay for yours
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023
Musk offered to pay for Graham’s blue check, a gesture that Graham appreciated, and he offered to pay it forward if Twitter would restructure the blue check subscription model to allow users to pay for accounts they want to support. However, as of the time of the conversation, Graham was yet to pay for the blue check. When asked why he had not done so, Graham replied that he wanted to observe how the item would read to him in a couple of weeks, considering it is no longer based on merit.
CZ’s suggestion of payment for Twitter users is seen as a way to fight against the use of bots and reduce their impact on the platform. This suggestion will allow users to have more control over the content on their timeline, especially those from people they do not follow. If implemented, the payment structure will also generate more revenue for Twitter and make it more profitable.
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