The world's richest man, who bought the blue bird platform for $44 billion, believes that the monthly subscription would produce a 'revenue stream to reward content creators,' which he says will be 'essential.'
- Nov 2, 2022
AceShowbiz - Elon Musk continues to defend his plan to charge Twitter users $8 a month for the platform's coveted blue tick. The forum's new CEO also branded the current verification system "bulls**t."
He tweeted on Tuesday, November 1, in a stream of messages about the plan, "Twitter's current lords and peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bulls**t. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."
He added the fee would be "adjusted by country, proportionate to purchasing power parity" and promised users will get "priority in replies, mentions and searches" and the right to post long videos. The world's richest man, who bought Twitter for $44 billion, also offered subscribers a "paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us."
He added it would produce a "revenue stream to reward content creators," which he said was "essential." There is currently a six-step verification process to get Twitter's blue badge to show the account is genuine.
Elon had also said Twitter must charge for its blue tick to battle "bots and trolls," with reports users may face a charge of up to $19.99 a month for the privilege. His plan has sparked fury among masses of users, including from prolific tweeter Stephen King, who blasted he would quit if a charge was imposed.
The 75-year-old horror writer tweeted, "$20 a month to keep my blue check? F**k that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron." Elon replied to the "IT" author, saying the move was being made because the social media platform can't rely "entirely on advertisers."
