Elon Musk, the company’s new owner, announced that Twitter would charge $8 per month for its Twitter Blue subscription service, which provides users with a verified blue tick badge. “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,” Musk stated in a tweet that the pricing will be “adjusted by nation proportionate to purchasing power parity,” adding that the Blue subscription will cost $8 per month. In the past, users were granted the blue “verified” badge without charging a monthly charge to let people know that a public interest account is genuine. Before, users may request to be verified in order to acquire the blue badge if their accounts were “genuine, significant, and active.”
According to Musk, the $8 per month membership will offer users priority in replies, mentions, and searches, which is “important to prevent spam/scam,” he claimed on Tuesday. Additionally, Twitter Blue subscribers can post lengthier audio and video files and only see half as many advertisements. Launched in June of last year, Twitter’s Blue premium service provided early access to features including reader mode, customizable app icons, and the option to undo a tweet.
Musk’s statement follows news that Twitter may charge $20 per month for its Blue subscription. Stephen King, a best-selling author, then tweeted, “$20 a month to maintain my blue check?” If that is implemented, I’m out like Enron, he declared. We need to find a way to pay the debts, Musk retweeted King. Twitter can’t only rely on sponsors. Consider $8. How much would you pay to get verified on Twitter and receive a blue checkmark, according to a recent Twitter poll? 19,63,860 people responded to the poll, the majority of whom indicated that they “wouldn’t pay” for the blue checkmark. Musk said, “To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8,” in a tweet.
Musk purchased the microblogging platform last week. Twitter’s primary source of income in the past has been advertising. Musk does, however, also intend to make money through subscriptions. Sarah Personette, the head of Twitter’s ad sales, posted on Tuesday that she had left the company last week. Twitter’s Chief People and Diversity Officer, Dalana Brand, also revealed on Tuesday that she had left the company last week. Following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, several key executives left the company, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, head of law, policy, and trust Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett. Musk said in an SEC filing that he will serve as the CEO of Twitter. According to a different SEC filing, Musk has taken over as Twitter’s sole director as a result of the acquisition. Musk is the founder of The Boring Company, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as well as a co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI. He oversees 5 businesses.
