UNITED STATES: Elon Musk has announced that Twitter Inc. will charge $8 (£7) a month for its users who want a blue tick next to their name.
Musk’s implementation of fresh charges on the Blue service, which comes with the coveted “verified” badge, is part of his effort to monetize the platform and reduce the social media network’s dependence on advertisements.
The billionaire criticised Twitter’s old blue tick verification method, tweeting, “Twitter’s current lords and peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.” Power to the people! “Blue for $8/month.”
He further continued by adding the price will be adjusted “country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”
A blue check mark next to a user name, which signifies that Twitter has verified that the account belongs to the individual or business claiming it, is currently free.
Last week, billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion.
Since taking over, he has taken swift action to instil his vision for the business, ousting the previous CEO and other senior officials.
Musk stated on Tuesday that users with blue check marks will get priority in replies, mentions, and search results and will be allowed to submit longer films and audio files while only having to deal with half as many advertisements.
Additionally, he offered members a paywall bypass from “publishers willing to work with us.”
Musk’s remarks come after media reports that he was examining the profile verification procedure and how the blue check marks were awarded. In the past, the app used to award blue ticks to notable profiles based on its own standards.
However, in a recent survey, more than 80% of participants claimed they would not pay for the blue tick, with 10% saying they would be prepared to pay $5 each month.
Twitter already offers a subscription service called “Twitter Blue,” which went live in June last year and grants access to features like the ability to edit tweets.
After initial reports said that the fee for blue tick rights could be $20 (£18) monthly, there was scepticism over the fee.
The author Stephen King said in response to news of the changes that Twitter “should pay me,” and many users of the platform shared this sentiment.
“We need to pay the bills somehow,” Musk replied to King.
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