Twitter The new owner and CEO of the social media giant, Elon Musk, has wasted little time to turn things around. After dismissing a group of employees in a significantly large role in the company (former CEO, Parag Agarwal, for example),
Musk has now confirmed that Twitter will soon start charging $8 to those who want to check their knowledge. This will be part of the Twitter Blue Premium service, and Musk has detailed the perks a user can enjoy by paying said money. This comes after it was previously mocked that a blue verified check would cost $20.
It should be noted that Musk emphasized that there will be region-by-region pricing, depending on the purchasing power of the residents. So the price of the blue tick on Twitter in India may be less than the $8 declared for the United States. Region-wide pricing details are yet to be clarified.
Twitter Blue Tick cost, perks
The thread holder started by researching existing Twitter “lords” and “peasants” (verified and unverified users, respectively), and mocked the current verification regime, which many still consider to be new. Initially, the blue tick was awarded manually by Twitter to public figures after a check but at no cost.
Initially, reports suggested that the Twitter premium feature could cost $20, but given the ongoing reaction, it appears that the CEO has reconsidered things and the revised price has now fallen to $8. Elon himself admits that the price has been adjusted by country in proportion to purchasing power parity.
With Twitter's $8 premium feature, users will not only get the coveted blue tick, but also priority replies, mentions, and search, something that will likely defeat spam/fraud. Moreover, users will be able to post long videos and audio. Paying customers will now also have to see half as many ads.
For publishers, paying $8 means getting the ability to add a paywall to their content. All of this essentially means that Twitter will be able to generate a revenue stream, which Musk said will be used to reward content creators on the platform.
For those who already have a verified Twitter handle and are worried about losing relevance, there will be a minor tag below the name of someone who is a public figure, so all hope is certainly not lost. However, it is still unclear whether or not an unpaid celebrity will lose the blue tick.
Although Elon has yet to reveal when all of this will be shown live, previous reports indicated he wouldn't want to waste time, and he's already asked the team to bring things up by November 7. It also remains to be seen how quickly the platform will be able to roll out the "feature" in countries like India for example, where Twitter Blue has not yet been activated.