Leaked Document Suggests Barely Anyone Is Paying For Twitter Blue Subscription

When Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter, his primary goal was to turn the social media platform into a money pumping machine. Not much later, Elon Musk said that anyone on the platform would be able to get verified, taking away the allure of being rich and famous on Twitter.

Then came in a new Twitter Blue plan that would verify all subscribers in addition to prioritised visibility on the platform, and half the ads, layered with some exclusive customisation features. The service costs $8 a month (Rs. 661), which was launched alongside a colour-coded verified badge mechanism.

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People aren't using Twitter Blue

On Tuesday, The Information reported that a leaked internal document states that just 0.2% of monthly users in the US (around 180,000 people) had signed up for Twitter Blue by mid-January. If this is true, it's a major loss for Twitter, a company that has already lost many of its advertisers since Elon Musk took over. In December, about half of its 100 advertisers had pulled out.

Also read: Twitter To Start Levying Hefty $1000 Fee For Brands That Want To Remain Verified

These 180,000 US users are about 62% of Twitter's global Blue users. It indicates that around 290,000 people around the world are paying for Twitter Blue. In short, it seems that Twitter's hopes to make enough to pay off the $13 billion debt taken by Musk to buy the platform aren't panning out as expected.

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Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had talked about selling shares to help make a $3 billion debt payment. To expand its scope of making profits, Twitter is also planning to charge companies $1,000 per month for a verified checkmark.

Also read: Elon Musk's Latest Twitter Change Could Kill Many Iconic Bot Accounts

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In addition, Twitter also ended free support to its API, but Elon Musk later claimed that some bots would be given free access to the same. In majority of the cases, Twitter would charge for API access.

On Sunday, Musk said that the last three months have been "extremely tough" and that he had to "save Twitter from bankruptcy."

Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy, while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties. Wouldn¡¯t wish that pain on anyone.

Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2023

What do you think - is paying for Twitter Blue worth it? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Woo, E. (2023, February 7). Musk¡¯s Twitter Has Just 180,000 U.S. Subscribers, Two Months After Launch. The Information. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/musks-twitter-has-just-180-000-u-s-subscribers-two-months-after-launch?irclickid=0raxUfQz3xyIW4x1dbxkyUE8UkA3pszoE2cKSY0

Jin, B., & Saeedy, A. (2023, January 25). Elon Musk Explores Raising Up to $3 Billion to Help Pay Off Twitter Debt. WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-explores-raising-up-to-3-billion-to-pay-off-twitter-debt-11674669412