New Twitter head Elon Musk said Tuesday the site will charge $8 per month to verify users’ accounts, arguing the plan would solve the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company.
New Twitter head Elon Musk said Tuesday the site will charge $8 per month to verify users’ accounts, arguing the plan would solve the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company.
The announcement comes only days after the world’s wealthiest man took sole control of the social media giant in a contentious $44 billion deal.
« Power to the people! Blue for $8/month, » Musk, who has styled himself as a free-speech champion, tweeted, in reference to the platform’s paid subscription service, Twitter Blue.
Under the new plan, paid subscribers would receive Twitter’s famous blue checkmark that signals a verified, authentic account.
That feature is currently offered only to public figures, an approach Musk described as a « lords & peasants system. »
He said Twitter Blue subscribers would also receive « priority » placement in « replies, mentions & search, » which he called « essential to defeat spam/scam. »
There would also be expanded video abilities, fewer ads, and the possibility for users to get a « paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us, » he said.
Twitter Blue currently allows users to access certain news sites for free and without ads, such as the Los Angeles Times.
« This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators, » Musk tweeted.
