Twitter has started paying creators for a share of the ad revenue from ads served in replies and to posts, with Twitter Blue subscribers earning over five million tweet impressions per month for the last months eligible for the payout.
Elon Musk confirmed the first round of payouts will total $US 5 million ($7.3 million AUD) and be cumulative from February.
Users will receive the payouts through Stripe, and popular accounts have confirmed they have been substantial.
Ed Krassenstein, previously banned from Twitter before Musk’s acquisition was one of the verified accounts to cash in big AND share his return.
“When Elon Musk said that he was going to pay Twitter users a revenue share, I thought, ‘wow, that’s awesome.’ I assumed I would be getting paid around $500 or so for the past 4-5 months. I thought it would be pennies on the dollar compared to what George Soros pays me (sarcasm).”
“I was wrong. Today I was surprised to see a payment of $US24,877 ($36,375) appear in my Stripe account, from Twitter. Now I’m going to stop promoting border crossings and begin promoting Tesla vehicles.”
Alleged human trafficker and controversial online personality Andrew Tate also tweeted his receipt for $29, 798 AUD, declaring “every penny” would go towards his Tate Pledge charity initiatives.
Tate was banned in 2017, but reinstated after Musk’s acquisition, now with 7.2 million followers.
Last month, he and his brother Tristan were charged with rape and human trafficking offences in Romania.
Last week, they sued a woman among others allegedly falsely claiming they were part of the Romania case.
Others have also shared the amount they received through the payouts.
Political commentator and podcaster Benny Johnson received $13,958 AUD, writer for political satire site Babylon Bee, Ashley St. Clair received $10,459 AUD, and account End Wokeness (anonymous owner) received $15,234 AUD.
This revenue sharing scheme was introduced for ads placed in tweet replies, with Twitter announcing plans for expansion later this month in an effort to support content creators and enabling them to earn directly from the platform.
The company have also offered creators the ability to charge for access to content.
YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, ‘MrBeast’ didn’t disclose his return but decided to make a game of his return next month.
“Whoever has the most liked reply to this in 48 hours gets all my Twitter revenue for the next month!”
Farzad Mesbahi noted “The more haters you have in your replies, the more money you’ll make on Twitter.”
Musk replied, “Poetic justice.”
