X, previously often called Twitter, is testing a signup mannequin whereby new customers must both pay to turn out to be a verified enterprise account, choose into an X premium subscription, or pay a $1 annual payment to show they’re not a bot. The trial, which started on Oct. 17, is presently solely relevant to new customers in New Zealand and the Philippines.
The experiment, in accordance with a submit on X’s assist middle, is called “Not A Bot.” As its title implies, its objective is reportedly to discourage bot exercise on the app by requiring all customers (who’re included within the take a look at) to confirm their telephone quantity and cost technique.
Per the assistance middle submit:
“As of October seventeenth, 2023 we’ve began testing ‘Not A Bot’, a brand new subscription technique for brand new customers in two international locations. This new take a look at was developed to bolster our already vital efforts to scale back spam, manipulation of our platform and bot exercise.”
The submit goes on to state that “new customers” who pay the $1 subscription payment “will be capable to carry out sure actions on the internet model of the platform: submit content material, Like posts, Reply, Repost and Quote different accounts’ posts, Bookmark posts.”
Those that don’t pay the payment and choose out of subscribing “will solely be capable to take ‘learn solely’ actions, resembling: Learn posts, Watch movies, and Comply with accounts.”
Appropriate, learn without cost, however $1/12 months to write down. It’s the one technique to struggle bots with out blocking actual customers.
This gained’t cease bots fully, however it will likely be 1000X more durable to control the platform.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2023
It’s unclear presently precisely how X intends to find out the effectiveness of the “Not A Bot” trial. Cointelegraph’s request for commentary from the corporate solicited an instantaneous response of “busy now, please test again later.”
Earlier analysis on the character of social media “bots” has revealed the time period to be nebulous. In response to one examine, it isn’t at all times obvious whether or not accounts producing bot-like conduct are, in truth, bots.
There’s additionally the consideration that bots, and their conduct, are more likely to turn out to be way more refined in mild of the continued giant language model-driven revolution in consumer-facing synthetic intelligence chatbot know-how.
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In response to X, the subscription is supposed to cut the bots off on the knees by making it not solely troublesome to automate the signup course of however financially deterring the organizations and people answerable for deploying them.
Response within the crypto and finance communities — the place spam bots stay an ongoing drawback — has ranged from outright acceptance of the pay-to-interact mannequin to a rejection of the premise.
$0.08 per 30 days is fairly reasonably priced for no bot manipulation.
Anybody who complains about this merely needs the bot manipulation to run rampant.
— Colin Talks Crypto (@ColinTCrypto) October 18, 2023
One person replying to a submit from a well-liked account sharing the information known as the transfer a price prospect at lower than $0.10 per 30 days, stating, “Anybody who complains about this merely needs the bot manipulation to run rampant.” One other opined that it represented “the tip of X. It had a brief run.”
