The first beneficiaries appear to be string of high profile far right influencers who tweeted before the announcement how much they’ve earned as part of the program. Ian Miles Cheong, Benny Johnson, and Ashley St. Claire all touted their earnings
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“Wow. Elon Musk wasn’t kidding. Content monetization is real,” tweeted an anonymous account called End Wokeness, with 1.4 million followers, accompanied by a screenshot showing earnings of over $10,400.
So far, the influencers who have publicly revealed that they’re part of the program are prominent figures on the right. Andrew Tate, for example, who was recently released from jail on rape and human trafficking charges, posted that he’d been paid over $20,000 by Twitter.
Side note, the author, @taylorlorenz, just got called a liar by Musk, further reinforcing the story’s veracity.
I know paying creators / influencers isn’t a new thing, but it’s like Musk is spamming low effort memes of social media biz tactics.