Twitter is rolling out a new feature that allows news outlets to charge users who want to read their articles on the app.
On Saturday, CEO Elon Musk announced this latest monetization move, calling it a “win-win” for media outlets and Twitter users. According to the controversial Twitter leader, this move will roll out next month, allowing news accounts to charge users a flat rate to read an article. The initiative is meant for those readers who refuse to pay a subscription service for outlets with a monthly paywall. Publications can continue to make money even if people don’t pay for them consistently.
Users will be able to pay for these articles with the click of a button, likely via Apple Pay, though that has not been confirmed. Musk did not elaborate on how much Twitter will keep from these article purchases, but it is certainly a way to drive funds back to the app. Musk has also been an enormous advocate for Twitter Subscriptions, another way for creators to monetize their content. Twitter does not profit from this service for a year, after which it will begin to collect a portion of the creator’s earnings. The Twitter Blue monthly subscription is another way for Musk to line his and the site’s pockets, allowing users to pay for verification checks.
The Verge reports that Twitter is worth about half of the roughly $44 billion Musk paid for it. Advertisers have also pulled away from the site following his tumultuous takeover. Therefore, the billionaire tech mogul is in desperate need of generating some much-needed revenue on the site.
It has not yet been announced which day the pay-per-article service will roll out or how much users can expect to pay for each one.
