Twitter/X owner Elon Musk is leveraging the concept of a captive audience.
New York Times reporter Ryan Mac recently revealed on the platform that Musk sent an email to the employees of his aerospace firm SpaceX to tell them that they can subscribe to any creators on Twitter/X essentially for free, as a perk of being in the company.
Mac and other commenters noted that the move could mean taxpayer money funding more problematic content creators as SpaceX is a US defense contractor.
This isn’t the first time SpaceX has come to get involved with Twitter. While advertisers were leaving the platform en masse after Musk’s takeover, SpaceX launched an ad takeover on the platform. This was later downplayed to be “a tiny – not large – ad package” just to “test effectiveness” of the platform’s advertising.
Subscriptions is the platform’s rebranding of Super Follows where users can subscribe to creators for exclusive content. Eligible creators can offer monthly subscriptions at $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99. Musk said in April that for the first 12 months, the platform would not make money from the program.
Subscriptions is part of a bigger move to attract more creators onto the platform, perhaps on the way to Musk’s main goal of turning Twitter into X, “the everything app.” Twitter also recently announced that it would begin ad revenue sharing with a select number of popular creators, with some of them making over $100,000.
Information for this story was found via Twitter, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
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