X (formerly Twitter) has gained another option to limit who can reply to a post. Now, it’s possible to release replies only from those who are verified — that is, those who are subscribers to X Premium, formerly known as Twitter Blue.
The option is open to everyone, and even those who are not verified can prevent other unverified people from replying.
Currently, X Premium/Twitter Blue subscribers already have priority in replies: when clicking on a post, the first replies are always from verified accounts.
In 2020, Twitter began making options available for replies: everyone; only accounts you follow; only accounts mentioned; or no one. The following year, the social network released to change the configuration of a tweet already published.
Musk talks about fighting spam
Elon Musk, owner of X, said the new option should help combat spam bots. This is an important topic for him. When he emerged as a possible buyer for Twitter in April 2022, one of his plans was to “authenticate all humans” of the social network, as a way to put an end to bots.
Another initiative in this direction was the verification using documents, released in September. The information that the account has been authenticated appears when you click on the blue badge. Other than that, it doesn’t change much from the regular verification, since the user still needs to subscribe to X Premium.
X wants more subscribers
In practice, the new response options can serve more as a paywall. Do you want to interact with this account that only posts with responses limited to verified ones? Then pay. That could encourage new subscriptions, which the social network seems to be pursuing.
Recently, in a meeting with creditor banks, Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, said that the company is preparing three new paid packages. They can be cheaper than the current X Premium, which costs $42 per month.
The plans complement the hypothesis ventilated by Elon Musk. In September, it said it was considering charging all users for access to the platform.