Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk has tweeted that Twitter Blue’s monthly subscription fee will increase to $8, and will include a blue tick verification badge as one of its perks.
“Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” Elon Musk wrote on Twitter, criticizing of the social media giant’s old method of blue tick verification as a “lords and peasants system”.
Though $8 is less than the previously reported $20 per month charge but still a major price increase from Twitter Blue’s current price of $4.99 per month. There were about 400,000 verified users on Twitter as of 2021, according to report published in The Guardian.
Twitter Blue perks: The tech billionaire said that verified status is not the only perk that will be available with a Twitter Blue subscription.
- Accounts that sign up for Twitter Blue will be shown half as many ads.
- Their tweets will be prioritized in replies, mentions, and searches.
- They will be able to post longer videos and audio.
- A paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with Twitter.
The price is adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.
Twitter would now charge users to get verified and display the signature blue check mark that was available for free in the past.
Tech investor and longtime Musk associate Jason Calacanis Jason Calacanis, who reportedly appeared in Twitter directory, posted a poll asking how much people would be willing to pay for the blue tick. The vast majority voted “wouldn’t pay.” Later, Stephen King’s outrage over the $20-dollar-per-month fee for verified accounts went viral. Elon Musk replied: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” He added that “It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls.”
Musk, who is CEO of the world’s largest electric car producer Tesla and reusable rocket maker SpaceX, completed the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on October 28. He fired the company’s CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer, policy and legal team leaders right away and also dissolved Twitter’s board of directors.
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