Billionaire and owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, is not wasting time devising new payment systems. This time, it is a model that allows media publishers to charge for reading a single article with one click. This new concept is expected to premiere next month, and as Musk announced, it will allow users who do not want to purchase a monthly subscription to occasionally read articles, which he considers a win-win situation for both publishers and their audience. However, according to Business Insider, essential details are missing from this announcement.
Unprofitable Micropayment
For example, it is not known which users, or what types of user profiles, will have this option, how the payment will be executed, and whether the model will be available only to conventional media or also to content platforms like Substack or Patreon. It is also unclear whether Twitter will take its cut or if the entire amount will go into the publishers’ pockets.
Business Insider did not receive a response to their inquiry, and since Musk recently announced that he would respond to all media inquiries with an emoji – poop, they doubt that an official explanation will be provided. Nevertheless, journalists recalled an article that James Ball published in Columbia Journalism Review in 2020, in which he stated that micropayments would never take off. Monthly subscriptions simply guarantee consistency and higher revenues, while charging per article is complicated from a logistical standpoint. However, perhaps Musk knows something that previous media experts do not, and he is ready to offer publishers an irresistible deal.
