Elon Musk, the owner of X, has unveiled plans to provide Premium and Premium+ features to users above a certain verified follower threshold. These features include reduced ads, revenue sharing opportunities, and more for X Premium subscribers, while X Premium+ subscribers enjoy additional benefits like ad-free timelines and reply prioritisation.
Musk’s Announcement on X
Sharing the news via a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk declared, “Going forward, all 𝕏 accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free.”
In a move amidst escalating competition with OpenAI, Elon Musk revealed that the Grok AI chatbot, previously exclusive to X Premium+ users, will soon be available to all Premium users.
Since his acquisition of Twitter/X in October 2022, Elon Musk has been striving to enhance the platform’s revenue through user subscriptions. One of his initial actions was to discontinue the legacy verified programme, which granted a free blue tick to notable personalities. Instead, Musk introduced the blue tick as part of the premium subscription, and later expanded subscription tiers, with rates starting at ₹244/month or ₹2590/year for the basic plan, and ₹1,300 per month or ₹13,600 per year for the Premium+ subscription.
Potential Reasons for the Shift
While X has not officially stated the rationale behind Elon Musk’s decision to offer free subscriptions, it may stem from declines in advertising revenue and user numbers. According to NBC News, citing data from Sensor Tower, the X user base had declined by 15% year-on-year by February 2024, and by 23% since Musk took control of the social media platform.
