Andrew Selepak Comments on the Possibility of X Becoming a Subscription-Only Social Media Platform
Andrew Selepak, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Media Production, Management, and Technology instructional assistant professor, is quoted in “Pay to Post? Elon Musk talks About Charging X Users” published on thenationaldesk.com on Sept. 20.
The article focuses on Elon Musk’s quest to turn X, formerly known as Twitter, into a paid subscription social media platform. Currently, a paid premium service exists, but Musk is now considering charging all 550 million X users.
“He’s floated ideas in the past that never came to fruition, or he’s floated ideas that are quickly reversed,” Selepak said. “Musk is ‘not a politician, he’s not a PR person,’ and that means he sometimes speaks in the moment without weighing the impact of his words. I think he’s going to quickly hear from a lot of people (that), ‘this is a terrible idea.’”
He adds, “People have a hard time paying for something that once was free and every other social media platform would conceivably still be free, so people could easily jump ship. Putting X behind a paywall might really give Meta’s new X competitor Threads a big boost.”
Posted: September 21, 2023
Category: Alumni News, College News
Tagged as: Andrew Selepak, Elon Musk, Social Media Subscriptions, Twitter, X
