Elon Musk, who is now in charge of Twitter following its $44 billion acquisition, said the social media platform will charge $8 per month for a blue tick verification.
In a tweet, he said, “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”
As per reports, Musk had initially planned on charging $20 for the Blue Tick.
The existing Twitter Blue, its premium subscription service, costs $4.99, offering access to premium features like the undo/edit tweet option, bookmark folder, custom theme, interface, and ad-free articles.
In a series of tweets, the new Twitter chief said the charge for Twitter Blue will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators.
Musk, who has now changed his profile bio to “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator”, added that verified users will have priority in replies, mentions, and searches, which is essential to defeat spam/scam. The blue tick holders will have ability to post long video & audio, and also half as many advertisements. It also offers paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with Twitter.
Musk added that the price will be adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.
Musk further said there will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.
Twitter currently verifies notable accounts and adds a blue tick mark next to a username. Twitter has its own verification process, and the system was reserved for people like celebrities, politicians and journalists, whose identities were targets for impersonation.
Twitter introduced the blue tick system in 2009 following a lawsuit accusing the company of lacking enough efforts to prevent imposter accounts.
Musk, who calls as Chief Twit, recently said that Twitter is revising its user verification process. Since reaching acquisition agreement in April, Musk had conveyed many times that he wanted to revamp how Twitter verifies accounts and handles bots.
Musk reportedly has given a deadline of November 7 to employees working on the project to introduce paid verification on Twitter or they will be fired.
With the latest move, Musk reportedly expects to reduce social media platform’s dependency on advertising for its revenues.
Meanwhile, companies are getting concerned over advertising under the leadership of Musk. General Motors Co. recently said it has temporarily paused its paid advertising on Twitter saying that it wants more information about Twitter’s direction under its new ownership.
IPG, a major advertising company, reportedly advised its clients to suspend Twitter adverts for a week as it seeks more clarity on the Twitter’s plans.
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