Elon Musk is still settling into his role as Twitter’s owner and CEO, and it appears that his first move as the self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” will be to charge verified users for the coveted blue tick.
Musk has issued a directive to make the Twitter Blue subscription service more premium, according to The Verge. What is currently $4.99 per month for some extra features will be increased to $19.99 to include the verified badge.
Employees told to implement the change or risk getting fired.
Verified users would be given 90 days to subscribe to the more expensive Twitter Blue or lose their blue tick under the current plan.
Furthermore, employees assigned to the new paid blue tick project have been told that they must launch the feature by November 7, or they will be fired.
Musk’s first move as CEO of Twitter was to fire former CEO Parag Agarwal, CFO Ned Segal, and head of legal Vijaya Gadde. He has long expressed a desire to make radical changes at Twitter, including a long-term plan to transform it into a Super app. However, paying verified accounts may not be the best strategy for retaining loyal users.
Simply charging money for a blue tick might make the feature less appealing.
It’s unclear whether Musk’s Twitter will include a verification badge with every new Twitter Blue subscription, or if verification will remain a privileged feature.
To receive the blue badge, accounts must be “authentic, notable, and active,” according to Twitter’s current requirements.
Simply charging for the blue tick could make it less appealing. People who pay $20 for Twitter Blue, on the other hand, would be disappointed if the checkmark was not included in the service as it is for verified users.
“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk said in a tweet without giving more details. We’ll have to wait and see how the platform rolls out the changes.
