X is launching audio and visual calls for regular users. Did anyone want this?
X, Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is set to launch audio and video calls for regular, non-premium users. It’s not exactly a feature folks have been clamoring for, but hey…it’s coming anyway.
Previously, audio and video calls on X were only available to paying, premium users.
An X engineer and CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed the news with posts on the site. Though, to be clear, it’s apparently not available to everyone just yet. The engineer, Enrique Barragan, noted they would roll the feature out slowly to non-paying users.
Perhaps the feature has gone wider than Barragan suggested, however, because when I checked, I already had access to calls despite not being a premium user. X has directions on how to use the function, but basically you go into a DM, tap the phone icon, then choose an audio or visual call.
I did not actually use the feature, however, because calling a friend via Twitter seemed like a bonkers idea. I don’t seem to be alone in thinking this.
Frankly it seems like a feature that folks may only ever use by accident while scrolling through a DM. It remains unclear what value is added by calling over X instead of the myriad services that already exist. Perhaps the only potential reasoning I’ve seen is that you do not need to share a phone number — but, again, that’s already possible with other services.
So, in short, placing a phone call on X is now a thing for non-paying users, whether anyone really wants it or not.