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THE SOCIAL MEDIA site X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced that it has begun charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to use basic features like posting messages.
X, owned since last year by billionaire Elon Musk, said in a statement that its new subscription method should “bolster” existing efforts to reduce spam and “manipulation of our platform and bot activity.”
Under the trial, new web users in the Philippines and New Zealand will have to pay X around $0.75 and $0.85, respectively, every year, in order to access basic functionality like posting on the site.
Those who decline to pay the nominal fee will only have access to a “read only” version of the platform, limiting them to reading posts, watching videos and following accounts, the company said.
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“This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” it added.
Existing users in these countries are not affected.
Musk has made a number of controversial changes to the social media firm’s management and product since he acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion.
He recently floated the idea of charging all users a nominal fee to use the site in a bid to tackle fake accounts — drawing sharp criticism from users around the world.
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Work a load of really sh*tty jobs. Travel. Meet people. Figure out who you are. Go places. See things. Do stuff. Don’t waste your 20s doing what’s expected of you, you can do that when you’re old and sensible. Having a B.A or a B.Sc isn’t necessarily the key to fulfilment.
Think outside the box, I was 25 points off what I needed to get the course I wanted and at only 17 I decided to take a gap year. Now 2 years later I’m working as a retail store manager and just finishing my first year in university of ulster with a scholarship from my company. Lesson being there’s always options out there.
I did IT in uni for 4 years. A 12 month intensive course would be better. For those interested in Web/graphic design or programming http://www.lynda.com is amazing, it’s like having your own tutor.
12 months of HTML5 CSS3 JQUERY PHOTOSHOP JAVASCRIPT etc is all most people need.
Just leave this kip of a country and go to a country who will look after you. That way you won’t have to pay this debt that the bankers saddled you with for years to come. Yes that’s what to do leave Ireland and tell everyone that will listen that Ireland is the most corrupt country in the world
if i was a young man thats what i’d do. My cousin spent 7 years in the legion, came out of it when he was 27, perfect age too and he’ll never be without a job.
Travel. See the world work your way round it in shitty jobs and create memories. I am in my forties and going back to do a masters so you have time. Enjoy it while you are young.
Thanks for this informative article. There is an abundance of scholarship opportunities out there for international students.
Students from developing countries, particularly from Africa, will find http://www.afterschoolafrica.com useful for finding scholarship and funding information.
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