Elon Musk says Twitter will start sharing revenue from reply-thread ads with users who pay for Twitter Blue, starting on February 3, but doesn't give details
People don't engage with content they agree with. — Getting ratioed is the way to make money, lol. Toni Aittoniemi / @gimulnautti@mastodon.green : @Techmeme “Reply now to receive a special treat from our channel!” 😊 Stefan / @stefan@gardenstate.social : @Techmeme ah yes. We'll pay you but you pay us first. Tweets: Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Starting today, Twitter will share ad revenue with creators for ads that appear in their reply threads Elon Musk / @elonmusk : To be eligible, the account must be a subscriber to Twitter Blue Verified Dave Zatz / @davezatz : Who is a “creator” I mean we're all here creating tweets. https://t.co/u42vmU1Zrh Xyla Foxlin / @xylafoxlin : Holy shit can you imagine if google told us that we had to pay them to maybe make our own ad revenue https://twitter.com/... Katie Notopoulos / @katienotopoulos : So in order to make ad-share money from Tweeting... you have to pay $8/mo... hmmmm so you have to pay.... to earn.... hmmmm.... https://twitter.com/... @vprasadmdmph : It's a smart move. You want to incentivize the 5% of accounts that start discussions, offer interesting insights. That's what gets other people to use the site https://t.co/... @wagatwe : Can't wait for a bunch of people to realize they're going to earn like two cents a month lol https://twitter.com/... Kylie Robison / @kyliebytes : okay but 1) are these advertisers in the room with us right now? 2) i dont think there's creator programs out there that people PAY to be part of, especially $8 a month .... why would people do that? https://twitter.com/... @eve6 : I don't have an econ degree but typically when people say if you give me money i'll give you money it's a scam https://twitter.com/... @http_lovecraft : Ever had a banger viral tweet? It'll now get stolen nearly immediately by $8 blue checks. So that's cool. https://twitter.com/... Matt Binder / @mattbinder : what's the revenue share? who gets what percent? is it based on impressions? engagement? clicks? how do creators get paid? where do creators see how much they made? does such a dashboard even exist? no info whatsoever other than “uhhh you have to pay me first to get paid” https://twitter.com/... Harrie / @harriesilver : id like to know how much people are making from these ads tho, i don't want twitter blue, or at least give us the option to hide the check mark. https://twitter.com/... @thecartoonloon : Pay to use twitter. Then get paid for ads Then break even. I can't see the problem with this plan https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Morgan J. Freeman / @mjfree : So we get pennies back on the dollar? Try again. https://twitter.com/... David Hood / @thoughtfulnz : The consequence of this, as much as I can assert consequence for another idea spinning up without detail, is that if you correct misinformation you will make the account posting it richer https://www.theverge.com/... Dennis Buchanan / @lawyerbuchanan : Pay me $8, and I'll pay you an indeterminate share of an undisclosed amount of revenue you generate for me. Yeah, this is going to end *real* well. https://twitter.com/... James McLeod / @jamespmcleod : “yes I will definitely pay a share of the advertising revenue that I have decimated by platforming Nazis and promoting conspiracy theories” “oh, also you have to pay me $8 to be eligible for a share of the revenue which might not exist and definitely won't be more than $8/mo” https://twitter.com/... MrDodgy / @chessproblem : just IMAGINE how dumb my tweets would get if i was being paid https://twitter.com/... Staci D Kramer / @sdkstl : “I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” https://twitter.com/... Liam Daly / @liamdaly : So you have to pay Twitter to get money back in ad revenue 🤣 no thanks https://twitter.com/... Richard Lawler / @rjcc : completely coincidentally https://www.theverge.com/... @libshipwreck : This is going to lower the cost of buying a checkmark from $8 a month to $7.99 a month (after you get your slice of revenue share). https://twitter.com/... @morningbrew : So we pay Twitter so Twitter can pay us...? https://twitter.com/... @hourlykokomimi : im probably wrong but isn't this literally how a pyramid scheme works https://twitter.com/... Ezra Levant / @ezralevant : This changes everything. @RebelNewsOnline was on track to make $1M/year on YouTube when they demonetized us for neutrally reporting on a Trump speech. We've made nothing from our 1.6 million subscribers there ever since. Twitter will now be our primary platform for content. https://twitter.com/... Alex Becker / @zssbecker : Reply with your crypto wallet. The winner will get 100% of the ad revenue from this post. More replies = bigger Numba https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter is pairing a new subscriber-only creator payout with its broader push to charge previously free platform users, including its planned paid basic API tier. The announcement makes reply threads a monetizable surface rather than only a venue for engagement.
Later coverage shows Twitter operationalized the idea by paying Blue creators who met a 5M monthly-impressions threshold over three months. That implementation clarifies that the initial offer was a selective incentive, not a universal payout for Blue subscribers.
First-order effects
- Twitter Blue subscribers gain access to a new potential revenue stream tied to ads displayed beside replies to their posts, while non-subscribers are excluded.
- Creators cannot yet assess the value of participation because Twitter has not specified who qualifies as a creator or how revenue will be allocated.
Second-order effects
- The Blue subscription becomes both a verification product and a prerequisite for creator monetization, giving high-engagement accounts a clearer reason to pay.
- Publishers and journalists weighing Blue face a different proposition than individual creators; related coverage found major outlets were unwilling to buy or reimburse the subscription.
Third-order effects
- If payouts remain tied to reply-thread attention, Twitter’s creator incentives favor accounts that generate sustained discussion, concentrating monetization on high-reach conversation starters.
- The later use of an impressions threshold points to a platform model in which subscription status grants access but scale determines who receives advertising revenue.
The trend: Twitter is combining subscriptions, access restrictions, and selective creator payouts to turn participation and reach into paid platform inputs.