The Wrong Way to Look at Twitter’s Subscription Business

Hell hath frozen over. Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk said publicly today that the company cannot be supported solely by advertising, and he tweeted new details about its subscription plans. 

What to me seems like a fairly run-of-the-mill business question—how to get more money from users who might be willing to pay you more—is apparently a deeply controversial topic that has earned me ridiculous levels of vitriol on Twitter (and a few thousand new followers overnight). It seems to me that commenting on this topic instantly injects you into debates about elitism and hatred of journalists. It’s a lovely mix. Really.