The world’s richest man wants people to pay a cost to be on Twitter with a $8 for a Blue Tick on Twitter which is sparking furor.
The world’s richest person Elon Musk has revealed the cost of being verified on Twitter saying that users will have to pay $8 (roughly Rs 650) to get Twitter Blue and by extension the Twitter Blue Tick or blue checkmark. The question is what will you get in return?
In order to attract creators and publishers to the platform, Elon Musk claimed that Twitter will allow a paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with them
Amusement ran high to see the great “king of horror” Stephen King haggling with Musk displeased about the new payment scheme of Elon Musk.
Watching Steven King and Elon Musk haggle over how much to pay for a Blue Tick verification is pleasing me greatly… pic.twitter.com/Y8fiJ8Ly89
— Amanda Abbington (@CHIMPSINSOCKS) November 1, 2022
Blue Tick! pic.twitter.com/RnMbb6kMke
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) November 1, 2022
Musk in his Tweet on Tuesday criticized the “current lords & peasants system” that governs who gets the verified badge and who doesn’t. He indicated that by offering a paid subscription for the Blue Tick, he is redirecting more “Power to the People!”. He also claims that this will get rid of the bots and trollers on Twitter.
Musk’s tweet read, “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.”
In the following thread tweets, Musk tried to offer more clarity about the new system to get a Blue Tick of Twitter. Users in India might have to pay relatively low for all the perks as Musk assured that the pricing will be adjusted in countries by the purchasing power parity. He said, “Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”
Apart from the prestigious Blue Tick, the subscribers will get some bonuses that will let them get highlighted in conversations. Musk said that subscribers will get the following:
– Priority in replies, mentions & searches, (Musk claimed it is essential to defeating spam/scams)
– Ability to post long video & audio
– Half as many ads
Furthermore, to attract creators and publishers to the platform, he claimed that Twitter will allow a paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with them. This will incentivize creators with a new revenue stream.
Another change will be that public figures will get a new tag below their name. However, this feature won’t be given to all Twitter Blue users.
Musk was questioned about the new verification system and the perk associated with them. One user asked Musk a question, “What happens when a random user pays $8 and changes his Display Name to Elon Musk, using your same profile pic and starts tweeting like he’s you?”
To the question, Musk answered, “That already happens very frequently.”
Irked people are responding
The man who wanted to save free speech is now selling blue ticks for 8 dollars a month. Surreal! #elonmusktwitter
— Ajay Kamath (@ajay43) November 1, 2022
Joseph Morgan: “If you monetize the verification tick, then you remove its value. It will no longer be a symbol of authenticity. For example, anyone will be able to create an account in my name, pay for a blue tick, and contact fans to try and scam them out of money. Or am I missing something?”
If you monetize the verification tick, then you remove its value. It will no longer be a symbol of authenticity. For example, anyone will be able to create an account in my name, pay for a blue tick, and contact fans to try and scam them out of money. Or am I missing something?
— Joseph Morgan (@JosephMorgan) November 1, 2022
It's not the money or the "brand". I came here to Twitter because it was interesting and stayed because it was fun, stayed because the good bits outweighed the awful bits. If the nature of the community is changing I'm happy to lose the blue tick and let it go the way of MySpace. https://t.co/WUysvanVqM
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 1, 2022
Neil Gaiman “It’s not the money or the “brand”. I came here to Twitter because it was interesting and stayed because it was fun, stayed because the good bits outweighed the awful bits. If the nature of the community is changing I’m happy to lose the blue tick and let it go the way of MySpace.”
It is not about the money, but the new commercial nature of the company that will wipe away the fun and life of Twitter is why people are reacting to this.