(CNN) – Elon Musk announced Twitter’s latest push to get people to pay the social network $84 a year: Twitter will only promote tweets from paid subscribers, and non-subscribers won’t be able to vote in polls.
Twitter’s “For You” tab, which is the first screen users see when they open the app, selects tweets using an algorithm. This means that it can view Tweets from people you don’t follow. The For You tab will soon only feature people who pay for the Twitter Blue premium service.
“Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in Recommendations For You,” he announced in a tweet Monday night. “It’s the only realistic way to deal with the hordes of advanced AI bots. Otherwise, it’s a hopelessly losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.”
Being featured in the For You feed (list of stories) helps users increase their follower count. Voting in polls does not benefit users in the same way, but preventing them from voting may result in some signing up for the paid service.
Musk frequently posts his own polls to Twitter, asking users everything from whether he should step down as CEO of the platform to whether he should sell Tesla stock.
Although Musk said Twitter was making the switch to fight bot accounts, he later tweeted: “However, it’s OK to verify bot accounts as long as they follow our terms of service and aren’t impersonating humans.”
It’s part of Musk’s plans to cut Twitter’s reliance almost entirely on advertising dollars for its revenue. Much of Twitter’s ad base has left the platform since Musk took over in October.
Last week, Musk announced that users with a free blue check — usually government officials, celebrities, members of the media, and other high-profile users — will forfeit that free check starting in April unless they agree to pay a subscription fee, either $84 per year or $8 per month. .
Musk and actor William Shatner clashed on Twitter over the weekend, when Shatner objected to the idea of paying for a checkmark.
“Heyelonmusk what is this about blue ticks disappearing unless we pay on Twitter?” Shatner chirp. “I’ve been here for 15 years giving my time and clever ideas for nothing. Now you’re telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free?”
Musk responded to Shatner in a tweet on Sunday: “It’s more about treating everyone equally. There should be no different standard for celebrity.”
