Is the $1 fee for a new X account a blessing in disguise for web 3.0?

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First let us look at the general thought process and reaction of a person who may be a X user or intending to get on to web 2.0 in a few days time.

Would you pay $1 to be able to tweet on X

X formerly twitter keeps mixing up its act. This time around it is planning to introduce a $1 annual subscription fee on new accounts.
Only after paying this fee the new account holders would be able to

• Tweet
• Reply &
• Quote
  This $1 annual subscription fee would be levied on new accounts created in the territory of New Zealand and the Philippines.
  This fee comes into effect from this coming Tuesday.

As per company sources the $1 fee is to curb bots and spam and should not be associated with any profit making endeavor.

Even though the company may not see it as something that is being done to make money, it is a step after the $8 per month fee that grants a user a coveted blue tick.

Currently advertising has been the main revenue model for X which was earlier called twitter.
In addition there have been the paid services which it offers as part of its offerings.

Though as per X the $1 annual subscription fee would apply to only new users but the question is should there be an entry fee in the first place.

Can the $1 annual subscription curb free speech?

X or twitter which was started back in 2006 has survived a long period of time.
It evolved as the mouthpiece of free speech that often saw a number of activities like celebrities coming on board and with them they brought in their fanbase.
It also emerged as a platform where citizens put forth a question to the government or seek help in times of distress or an emergency.

Does $1 payment mean having a credit card card to pay?

Based on the experience of the $8 monthly fee blue tick roll out it is necessary to have a credit card or a third party payment processor approved by X
We still need a credit card to pay the $1 annual subscription. Not having a credit card cuts out a large population and makes X out of their reach.
Another more fundamental question is should there be a price for having the opportunity to have free speech?
The $1 fee may translate to people who have little or no opportunity to have their voice heard other than sending out a tweet for help may find their voices suppressed.

Mr Elon Musk’s notion of fighting bots with money

As per a conversation with Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu the Israeli prime minister last month Mr. Musk had stated that the $1 fee subscription model is the only way he could fight the various army of bots that are prevalent on X

Does this annual fee take X a step closer to turn X into the much talked about everything app?

X charging the $1 fee means that there is going to be some kind of payment processing that is bound to get introduced to the masses.
Currently the fee processing is only for the premium segment of services and the blue tick accounts but when everyone has to pay it would mean you would have to share your financial information with X.
This could be the first step to enroll all new users to the everything app which they could use to make payments for other things like shopping, hailing a taxi and a range of other services.

Would the new users trust X enough to give it their financial information?

That remains to be seen from the business point of view. However, does everyone have access to a credit card and the conviction to use it for a $1 fee per year subscription plan for an account which was available to them for free just a few days ago ?

Can web 3.0 turn the $1 fee into an onboarding opportunity?

So is $1 fee the cost people would have to pay to get a right to free speech?
Or perhaps they would have to look for some other platform.
Talking of which one can turn to a web 3.0 platform which is decentrilized built on a blockchain and gives the user complete freedom over their content.
In this context the inleo.io platform built over the hive blockchain stands out as it offers a microblogging platform like X (twitter) and a long form platform like medium as well.

The good part is that currently a user can sign up for an account Free of charge using this link
The best part is that every time you interact on inleo you give yourself a chance to earn some cool crypto tokens.

Final thoughts

For fighting spam and bots can AI not do a good job of tracking bots and blocking those accounts?

Putting a fee on a platform which many use to connect with those in office of power or call out for help can create challenges if you do not have the money or means to pay.
This policy can closed the doors of X to those who are unbanked, without a credit card or do not have the means to pay the $1 fee.

Perhaps they could turn to inleo and hive and claim their digital freedom and at the same time earn some crypto in the process of exercising the right to free speech.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha