Musk announces $8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts arguing the plan would upset the platform’s “current lords & peasant’s system” and create a new revenue stream for the company.
The announcement comes days after the world’s richest man took sole control of the social media giant in a combative $44 billion deal.
“Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” he tweeted, in reference to the platform’s famous blue checkmark that signals a verified, authentic account.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
The new plan’s pricing would be familiar by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity,” Musk added in the replies to his original tweet, and would also contain “priority” in replying to and searching posts, which he called “essential to defeat spam/scam.”
Also extend video abilities, fewer ads, and the possibility for users to get a “paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us,” he said. “This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators,” Musk tweeted.
Verified Twitter Accounts:
In adding to offering verification privileges, the new program would take over the present functions of Twitter Blue — now available for $5 per month — which, for example, allows users to edit their tweets.
The SpaceX and Tesla chief lifted the $8 subscription fee idea previously Tuesday in a tweet reply to author Stephen King, who was complaining about reports that the verification service could cost $20 per month.
“We need to pay the bills somehow!” Musk reply. “Twitter cannot rely entirely on Ads. How about $8?”
The plan is only one part of a series of wide changes the 51 year old entrepreneur has imposed Twitter, with the entire board, with CEO Parag Agrawal, let go last week.
The Washington Post has reported that Musk, whose account bio now reads “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator,” plans to fire some 75 percent of his new company 7,500 employees.
Musk’s earlier comments condemning Twitter’s content moderation policies as heavy-handed — as well as his regular posts of boundary-testing memes — has given break to some advertisers, the company’s main source of revenue.
Read Also: Elon Musk Affair with Wife of Sergey Brin the Google Co-Founder
He tried to calm the nerves by encouraging that the site would not become a “free-for-all hellscape,” and public the formation of a content moderation council.