If it’s up to Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk, as many users as possible will pay for the social network. This raises the big question: Will we soon have to pay for all social networks?
As soon as the ink on the purchase agreement dried, Musk threw his bat in the box: He suggested that paying Twitter users should get more exposure for their messages than others in the future. This brought him much criticism.
Noted writer Steven King responded almost immediately: “Pay monthly to keep my blue check? They should be paying me!”
Steven Sweldens, a professor of consumer behavior and marketing at Erasmus University Rotterdam, agrees with King. “Twitter needs its users for everything that happens on the social network. Making people pay is actually the opposite.”
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Why should you pay for Twitter?
According to Sweldens, people are willing to pay for something if there is value in return. “With the video service Netflix and the music service Spotify it’s very clear: for a fixed amount per month you can watch or listen to all content. Twitter doesn’t have that value.”
“What plays a big role on Twitter is that the content you have to pay for still has to be made,” consumer psychologist Patrick Wessels tells NU.nl. “So people don’t really know what they’re paying for and if it’s worth it.”
Twitter knows too little about its users
According to Sweldens, Twitter has a big problem compared to, for example, Facebook and TikTok. “Those companies know everything about their users. Everyone shares personal data with these social networks without batting an eye. Detailed advertising profiles are then compiled. Advertisers are willing to pay big money for it.”
Until now, Twitter has never really been profitable. According to Sweldens, this is because the company knows far less about its users than Facebook and TikTok. “The advertising profiles of the users are therefore less detailed. The social network can therefore charge much less money for advertising.”
Charging users could be Twitter’s downfall
Musk’s solution to letting users pay for Twitter could be the company’s downfall, Sweldens thinks. “Musk has been talking for years and has been calling for things to change on Twitter. But he doesn’t have a solution to the advertising problem. Besides significant reputational damage, it will likely cost him a lot of money.”
According to Wessels, Twitter is a place where everyone can spit out their unfounded opinion. “But once people have to pay to share their opinion, it will probably be very quiet.”
Most people don’t want to pay for social media
Wessels predicts that only 5-10 percent of all Twitter users are willing to pay for anything. “These are, for example, people who have a warm heart for the social network.”
Sweldens also expects that most people won’t want to pay for a social network like Twitter. “Such a platform is nothing without its users. If it has to be paid for, many people leave. As a result, it loses its value for the remaining paying users.”
