Twitter $8 ‘Blue Tick’ fees: Destroying bots to paying bills, 10 things Elon Musk has said so far

New Delhi: Elon Musk on Tuesday announced that Twitter will charge $8 per month to verify users’ accounts, claiming that the plan would solve the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company.

The announcement comes just days after the world’s richest man acquired sole control of the social media giant in a contentious $44 billion deal.

Musk floated the $8 subscription fee idea in a tweet reply to author Stephen King, who was complaining about media reports that the verification service could cost $20 per month.

Musk responded, “We need to pay the bills somehow!” He added, “Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”

Here are 10 things Elon Musk has said so far:

1– Musk, who claims himself as a free-speech champion, 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”. This means that under the new plan, paid subscribers would receive Twitter’s famous ‘blue tick’ that signals a verified, authentic account. The feature is currently offered only to public figures, an approach Musk described as a ‘lords & peasants system.’

2– Musk said Twitter ‘Blue Tick’ subscribers would also receive “priority” placement in “replies, mentions and search,” which he claims is “essential to defeat spam/scam.”

3– The new plan’s pricing, would be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity,” Musk added in a reply to his original tweet. This means that if someone is based in the US or any developed country, they will have to pay $8 a month. However, if a verified user is based out of an underdeveloped or developing country like India, where $8 a month is actually a lot, the pricing will be lower.

4– Verified accounts will be able to post long video and audio.

5– Fewer ads. Twitter ‘Blue Tick’ currently allows users to access certain news sites for free and without ads.

6– Addressing the worries of some Twitter users that their ‘blue tick’ mark would lose its reputation, he also announced “a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.”

7– Musk praised the paid-verification idea, saying the move will destroy the bots. “If a paid Blue account engages in spam/scam, that account will be suspended,” Musk said.

8– This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators. This means that the platform will be able to reward content creators who create content for the platform. Just like Instagram and YouTube, Twitter too is likely to become a platform for creators who post a wide variety of content.

9– The Verge, reported that for users that currently have ‘blue tick’ accounts, Musk is considering removing them if they do not pay for the new service.

10– Twitter will collaborate with a few publishing houses to provide users with Twitter Blue Tick access to content that is behind a paywall.

With inputs from agencies

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