Twitter is going to start charging users to direct message people who don’t follow them. An upcoming update on the platform will only allow users who pay for the $8 / month Twitter Blue Subscription to DM users that don’t follow them back— putting increasing pressure on Twitter users to pay for the app. Elon Musk claims that this is part of Twitter’s effort to eradicate the problem of spam bots, an issue he promised to fix before he took over the company. Musk has defended himself over the bot problem, however, explaining that “it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI bots [and humans]. Soon, it will be impossible.” YPulse research shows that over a third (35%) of Gen Z and Millennial Twitter users think the platform is worse now that he’s in charge. (Mashable)
