Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk is defending a plan to make people pay to hold a coveted blue badge that verifies a user’s authenticity and authority on the social media platform.
“Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bull****,” Mr. Musk said on Twitter on Tuesday. “Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”
Mr. Musk is overhauling Twitter’s process for assigning blue checkmarks to users that convey importance and the authentication of his identity.
Rumors had swirled that people looking to hold the status symbol would need to pay a fee ranging from $4.99 to $20 per month as a subscription to Twitter Blue.
Mr. Musk appears to have settled on the $8 price after haggling with author Stephen King, who objected in horror to the plan and drew a response from Mr. Musk.
“$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me,” Mr. King said on Twitter. “If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”
But Mr. Musk reminded the celebrated author on Tuesday that “we need to pay the bills somehow!”
“Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” he added.
The checkmark is a symbol Twitter uses to distinguish speakers online, signaling the authenticity of a user who attracts high public interest or to convey the authority of someone speaking on the social media platform.
Twitter previously reopened its verification process to public applications in May 2021 when it announced changes to how it assigned the blue badge to its users.
The company said at the time that six categories of users were eligible for the badge, including government; companies, brands, and organizations; journalists and news organizations; entertainment; sports and gaming; and activists and other influential individuals.
Mr. Musk said Tuesday that the $8 pricetag would be adjusted for various countries and said the cost would also provide users with other features, including priority visibility in replies, mentions, and search results.
He said paying users would also receive the ability to post longer videos and audio and only see half as many ads.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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