Heh. Who saw this coming when Musk initially got involved in Twitter?
Bought. Tanked. Paying a 00’s celebrity to endorse a pink icon. Next up is hire Aaron Carter to sign the app startup jingle? But only for paying subscribers though, ofc.
At this point, can we just admit that this is all money laundering. Musk is taking dark money from somewhere (like CIA drug money) and funneling through garbage projects like this, pretending to be spending millions on things that take all of a few days to execute.
We noticed the icon actually went live in the app ahead of today’s official announcement, but the news was not broadcast to X users until this morning.
That perk continued with Musk’s revamp of the subscription product, which now has been rebranded X Premium and includes paid verification, the ability to edit posts, a lighter ad load, and increased visibility in search and replies, among other features.
The power of a celeb partnership could perhaps boost subscriber numbers, though it’s unclear how many of Hilton’s 16.6 million followers on X are actually big enough fans to pay for this perk — especially given that the pink icon is only offered for a 2-month period.
X has struggled to attract subscribers for its paid subscription, with one report earlier this year noting the service had made just $11 million on mobile in its first three months.
More recent data from a third-party analysis by researcher Travis Brown indicated X Premium gained around 94,000 net subscribers between July 1 and August 10, 2023.
Hilton’s deal with X comes after statements Musk has made about his plans for the company to move beyond being just a social network to also serve as a platform that embraces creators and allows them to monetize their fan bases.
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