Elon Musk's solution for verification woes? Charge for it.
Today, the CEO, Chief Twit, and sole board member of Twitter announced that Twitter Blue, the company's subscription service, would be getting a price hike. The service, which currently costs $5 per month, will be increased to $8 per month, but come with a number of new features.
Musk took to Twitter (of course) to announce the potential change, saying that blue checkmarks (Twitter's verification badge) being exclusive to the "lords" of the platform was "bullshit." His solution? Charge $8 per month for Twitter Blue which will now, among other things, include verification.
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.November 1, 2022
Elon Musk's Twitter Blue includes more than verification
In addition to verification, Musk's new version of Twitter Blue would include a number of other proposed features, including getting priority in replies, mentions, and search which the new boss says is "essential to defeat spam/scam." He also said Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to post longer video and audio, but did not go into detail on exactly what length of either would be allowed.
Finally, the new version of Twitter Blue would remove half of the advertising that users currently see on the platform. Not all advertising, but half.
Musk also says that Twitter Blue will still include the removal of ads for publishers working with the service, but that will only happen once they bring that feature back. Just today, the company announced it was discontinuing the feature..for now.
"We are attaching an official notice of termination of notice of the service, as well as termination of the associated Publisher Agreement, given that the service underlying the agreement is no longer active," said an email to current Twitter Blue subscribers.
The earlier rumor was that Twitter Blue may cost as much as $20 per month, which sent the Twitter community into a joined tirade. Even $8 doesn't appear to have quelled the storm, with many concerned with the potential ramifications of making verification a paid feature.
