Twitter is going through all kinds of changes after Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion last month. After charging $8 for a verified blue tick badge, he has launched a new feature that will charge users to send direct messages (DMs) to high-profile accounts or celebrities on the platform.
The New York Times reported that internal documents and two employees working at the company revealed the news of the DM feature. The fee structure for the DMs hasn’t been finalized by Twitter but it is assumed that it will be as little as a few dollars per DM.
Twitter is reportedly working on a paid DM program focused on “Very Important Tweeters” or VITs. According to the sample, the new feature will allow users to DM famous people for a fee.
As shared by the New York Times, an early prototype displayed a user asking Post Malone about his favorite records. This message would then appear in a special section of the celebrity’s inbox and the latter could choose whether they want to receive the text(s).
This news comes after the founder of SpaceX and Tesla said Twitter noticed a “massive drop in revenue,” as several advertisers retracted their spending on the platform.
Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists.
Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022
People are leaving the platform after the $8 subscription fee for the blue tick badge was announced, and now this new feature seems to have enraged users again. Although many complaints have been filed against the blue tick subscription policy, the Burnt Hair perfume seller is adamant about his strategy and said, “Trash me all day, but it’ll cost $8”.
What do you think about this new strategy by the world’s richest man? Share your thoughts below.
