As Advertisers Flee Twitter, Elon Musk Says He Will Charge Users To Send Messages To Celebrities: Report

As the new Twitter boss Elon Musk has launched cost-cutting measures including starting massive lay-offs in the company, he is also planning to launch a new feature which will charge users to send direct messages to high profile accounts or celebrities on the platform, The New York Times reported.

As per the report, "a product team is focusing on 'Very Important Tweeters', on the network, said the two people with knowledge of the work and according to the internal documents." It added that users will be able to send private messages to their favourite celebrities for a reasonable fee. 

This comes after Mr Musk on November 4 said Twitter has seen a "massive drop in revenue," as several advertisers pause spending on the platform after Tesla and SpaceX Chief's $44 billion acquisition of the microblogging site. 

"Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists," tweeted the billionaire.

"Extremely messed up! They're trying to destroy free speech in America," he continued. 

Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.

Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

As per the internal documents reviewed by The New York Times, in early prototypes, a Twitter user was depicted asking the musician Post Malone about his favorite records. Messages like these could appear in a special area of the direct message inbox. The celebrities would in turn have a choice to receive them. 

Twitter would most likely take a cut of the fees, according to the documents, the news outlet further said. 

Amid this, the "Chief Twit" also threatened to name and shame advertisers who are backing out from the social media platform. Replying  to an internet user, the billionaire said, "Thank you. A thermonuclear name & shame is exactly what will happen if this continues."

Also Read: Elon Musk Avoided Putting His Name On Any Twitter Layoff Memos: Report

This morning, he also justified his decision of mass dismissal of employees. Mr Musk said that Twitter was losing more than $4 million per day and that impacted the employees who were given severance packages. 

He tweeted, "Regarding Twitter's reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over USD 4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required."