Soon after taking over the company, Musk announced that Twitter will charge USD 8 (around ₹660) per month from verified (blue tick) accounts. He asserted that such actions are needed to make the $44 billion takeover viable.
However, the move triggered intense debate on the social media platform with Twitterati pointing out that nobody will pay this money for a verified badge as this will automatically mean that it's a paid partnership.
Instead of distancing himself from the debate, Musk chose to defend the move with tweets like ‘To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8’ and ‘Trash me all day, but it’ll cost $8’.
He even debated it with celebrities like Stephen King, David Sacks and others justifying why Twitter needs to charge for the verified badge.
However, the bigger question here is how the $8 blue tick will benefit you.
To explain this Musk said, 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.
What you will get if you have the blue tick?
He notes, the users will get priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam, the ability to post long video & audio, half as many ads. Also, paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with Twitter.
This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators, Musk notes.
How will you know who is a celebrity?
For this, Musk says “There will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians"
In just one week since Elon Musk took charge of Twitter, the world's richest person has made several changes at the micro-blogging company including layoffs, $8 for for blue tick, content council, advertising, home page, etc.
Musk has vowed to shake up the social media company, keeping employees, advertisers and users on the edge of their seats, according to the news agency Reuters.
