The new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, has indicated that those who will be verified on Twitter will have to pay a flat sum of $8 a month to retain their verification. Although this idea of Musk has generated a user backlash, with many of them staying, they may be dropping the verification tick.
Since it was announced that Elon Musk would take over Twitter, users have been concerned about the policies Musk will implement on the platform.
The richest man in the world took a great step in his reign by firing three top executives of the platform immediately after taking over.
In a post he made, the new Twitter owner explained his opinions and ideas about the verification tick. From what he said, "Twitter's current lords and peasants system for who has or who doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."
The billionaire also added that the price might change depending on one's country. The blue tick currently costs about $4.99 in the United States, but the price might differ in other countries.
Before bringing the price down to $8 per month, Elon Musk had suggested that the price tag for Twitter verification would be $20. That announcement caused an uproar on the platform, with many people saying they would leave it if it were implemented.
While those without the blue tick argued about the price Elon Musk set, some other celebrities were outraged by the price tag of $20.
Stephen King, an author, had made a post on Twitter where he criticized the fee of $20 for a Twitter verification. He said, "20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron."
Elon Musk has engaged in the author's tweet by asking him, "How about $8?"
Twitter Investors are in Support
Those who are part of the investors of the Twitter deal spearheaded by Elon Musk have said they support what the new Twitter owner does.
The founder and CEO of the biggest crypto exchange in the world, Changpeng Zhao, said the financial backers supported users paying $8 a month.
"We are supportive of that. We think that's a great idea," Changpeng Zhao said during a Web Summit in Lisbon.
When asked why he invested and supported the Twitter deal, he said, " We want to be extremely supportive of free speech. We are hoping to increase the freedom of money, and free speech comes before the freedom of money."
Is the Verification Tick Worth It at $8 Per Month?
Since new Twitter owner Elon Musk announced that the platform would charge $8 per month for those needed verification, users have been asking what is there for them.
In a post made on Twitter, Elon Musk said that there are so many things those who got verified would benefit from apart from the blue tick.
Those who have the verification tick will get priority in customer care replies, mentions, and search. Elon Musk added that having such priority will help defeat spam and bots on the platform.
In addition, they can post long audio and videos on the platform and see fewer ads than the average user.
When this policy is implemented, Elon Musk says that Twitter will provide a paywall bypass to publishers willing to work with them and reward content creators.