Elon Musk claims the Twitter blue tick will cost $8 per month.
Image credit: Gearrice
Twitter will reportedly charge users $8 (£7 per month) if they want a blue checkmark next to their name to denote a verified account, according to Elon Musk.
As part of the changes made following the social media platform’s $44 billion (£38 billion) purchase, Mr. Musk asserted that it was “essential to combat spam and scam.”
Normally reserved for famous people, the blue tick indicator next to a username is currently available.
The shift, according to critics, might make it more challenging to find reliable sources.
The world’s richest man, Mr. Musk, underlined that premium users will get priority in searches and answers, as well as only half as many advertisements.
“In fact, people power! The billionaire asked that the current method of “blue tick” verification be changed to “blue for $8/month” and referred to the prior system as one for “lords and peasants.”
The former global policy communications director for Twitter, Nu Wexler, issued a warning that charging for blue ticks would make it more difficult to spot bogus content.
Twitter’s previous procedure for verifying users for a blue tick comprised a simple online registration form for those whose identities were targets for impersonation, such as celebrities, politicians, and journalists.
In 2009, the company implemented the technique in response to a lawsuit accusing it of not doing enough to thwart bogus accounts. According to The Guardian, there were over 400,000 verified users on Twitter as of 2021.
However, Mr. Musk still faces a formidable challenge in his efforts to turn around Twitter’s business, which hasn’t produced a profit in years.
One of the biggest ad agencies in the world, IPG, requested that its clients stop running Twitter ads on Monday so that it could learn more about Twitter’s initiatives to promote “trust and safety” on the network. IPG receives billions of pounds annually from some of the biggest firms in the world to manage their marketing budgets.
Initial estimates put the cost of blue tick rights at $20 (£18) per month, which raised questions about the cost.
The author Stephen King stated in his response to the announcement of the modifications that Twitter “should compensate me,” and many platform users agreed.