Nearly 40% of Americans would not be willing to pay to use the X social media platform, according to a new poll conducted days after Elon Musk first floated the idea. 

What You Need To Know

  • 40% of Americans are not willing to pay for social media, according to a new survey

  • Earlier this week, Elon Musk said users may need to pay a monthly fee to use the X social media platform

  • Millennials and Gen Z are most willing to pay for social media

  • Residents of Iowa, Mississippi and Ohio are least willing to pay

Musk said Monday during a talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a small monthly payment would help combat “armies of bots.”

Americans’ willingness to pay for social media largely depends on a person’s age and geography, according to a survey of 3,000 Americans conducted by BonusFinder.com. While 85.5% of Millennials and 83.6% of Gen Z would be willing to pay, just 52% of Gen X and 33% of Baby Boomers said they’d pay for social media.

The survey found Millennials would be willing to spend $75.40 per month on social media, and Gen Z would be willing to spend $52.50.

New Yorkers were most willing to spend on social media. New York residents said they were willing to spend $95.30 per month. Washington, indiana, California and Illinois rounded out the top five states that were most willing to pay for social media.

Iowa led the list of states least willing to pay, with 66.7% refusing. Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky and Louisiana rounded out the top five.

“The fact that nearly two in five Americans would consider discontinuing their use if required to pay is a clear indicator of the value users place on cost-free access,” BonusFinder.com Managing Director Fintan Costello said in a statement.

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and many other popular social media platforms are free.

Exactly how or when X would begin charging its 550 million monthly users is unclear.

During his livestreamed conversation with Netanyahu over X, Musk said bots cost a fraction of a penny, so charging them a few dollars means they would be discouraged because they would need to use new payment methods.

“Prioritizing posts that are written by X premium subscribers, we’re actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing,” Musk said. “We want it to be a small amount of money.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article cited an incorrect statistic. The error has been corrected. (Sept. 22, 2023)