An even more expensive Twitter Blue subscription tier could be on our way. CEO Elon Musk tweeted Saturday(opens in new window)Musk said he and his already thin operational staff are working on a plan to introduce “higher-priced” subscriptions to Twitter Blue users that allow for “no ads.”
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Little is known about the details of this new Twitter Blue layer, as it is the only information directly available from Musk’s tweets. Twitter did not immediately respond to Mashable’s request for comment. In theory, Musk is serious about Twitter coming to an ad-free phase, Musk also said in court this week.(opens in new window) Just because he tweeted something “doesn’t mean people will believe it or act accordingly”.
Twitter blocked third-party clients due to outdated rules. Then quietly added new rules.
The current $7.99 monthly subscription, synonymous with current Twitter Blue users, promises 50% less ads, a feature that hasn’t rolled out yet. Features that do exist, however, include a blue “verified” checkmark, the ability to edit and undo tweets, a reader mode for long threads, and prioritization of conversations. Features include “coins” (TikTok-esque) that reward creators, and the ability to make the polarizing view count feature optional.
Musk’s desire to offer an ad-free Twitter experience is partly due to what he claims are frequent large ads taking over the platform. This announcement wall street journal report(opens in new window) Twitter has discovered that it is willing to match advertisers up to $250,000 in a desperate plea for ad buyers to come back. In the same thread, Musk also claims that a content creators fund is underway to encourage her creators to stay on Twitter.
Musk’s tweet comes days after Twitter abruptly stopped supporting third-party clients that previously accessed the platform, and the two incidents may be related.According to Verge(opens in new window)Twitter does not earn advertising revenue when the API is used through a third party client. This means that Musk likely would have made more ad revenue by stealing these third-party developers.Also, per Verge(opens in new window)the extra-expensive paid tier can be understood as another response to Twitter’s growing financial troubles: Musk simply hopes that users will give Twitter more money.
The Twitter drama never seems to stop, right? However, the expensive, ad-free version may ease the pain.
