Elon Musk: Only paid subscribers will appear in your Twitter feed for you

New York (CNN) Elon Musk has announced Twitter’s latest push to get people to pay $84 a year for the social network: Twitter will only promote paid subscribers’ tweets, and non-subscribers won’t be allowed to vote in polls.

Twitter’s “For You” tab, the first screen users see when they open the app, curates tweets using an algorithm. That means tweets from people you don’t follow may appear. The For You tab will soon only recommend people who pay for the premium Twitter Blue service.

“Starting April 15, only verified accounts will be eligible for For You recommendations,” he announced in a chirping Monday evening. “It’s the only realistic way to deal with advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It’s a hopeless losing battle otherwise. Voting in polls will require verification for the same reason.”

Appearing in the “For You” feed helps users build followers. Voting in polls doesn’t benefit users in the same way, but blocking them from voting might make some people sign up for the paid service.

Musk often posts his own polls on Twitter, asking users everything from whether he should give up his position as CEO of the platform to whether he should sell shares of Tesla (TSLA) storage.

Although Musk said Twitter is making the change to fight bot accounts, he later has tweeted “That said, it’s ok to have verified bot accounts if they follow the terms of service and don’t impersonate a human.”

It’s part of Musk’s plans to move Twitter away from being almost entirely dependent on advertising dollars for its revenue. A significant portion of Twitter’s ad base has left the platform since Musk took over in October.

Last week, Musk announced that users who have had a free blue check — typically government officials, celebrities, members of the media and other high-profile users — would lose the free verification starting in April unless they agree to pay a subscription fee — either $84 annually or $8 a month.

Musk and actor William Shatner clashed on Twitter over the weekend, as Shatner objected to the idea of ​​paying for the brand.

“Hey @elonmusk what’s this about blue checks disappearing unless we pay Twitter?” Shatner tweeted. “I’ve been here for 15 years and given my time and witty thoughts for nothing. Now you’re telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free?”

Musk answered to Shatner on Sunday in a tweet: “It’s more about treating everyone equally. There shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities.”