In what has been something of an embarrassing revelation for tech mogul Elon Musk, the publication of internal documents has revealed that Twitter’s controversial Twitter Blue feature has attracted less than 300,000 subscribers.
Twitter Blue was relaunched in late November last year after repeated suspensions and delays. Its basic premise is that users can pay a fee of $8 a month to receive a verification checkmark. They will also get access to additional features such as an edit button.
Musk was outspoken about the need to boost Twitter’s revenue when he took over the social media platform in 2022. The company was losing upwards of $4 million a day, according to the SpaceX founder.
Twitter Blue was designed to address this issue, but it would appear the feature is miles away from bringing in the profits that Musk claims are desperately needed.
Reports suggest that, as of mid-January, there were just 180,000 Twitter Blue subscribers in the US, with subscribers from the rest of the world taking the total up to around 290,000.
This could be why Musk recently announced new features, in an attempt to boost subscriber numbers.
Now, subscribers will receive a share of ad revenue for creator ads that are placed in their Tweet threads.
He also confirmed details of Twitter Gold, essentially Twitter Blue for businesses, which charges an eye-watering fee of $1,000 per month.
