So it appears that Twitter is already feeling the pressure from its new owner, Elon Musk. Elon Musk made his way into the building this week holding a bathroom sink as part of a joke and marking his first day as the company’s owner. Now, he is already asking for some significant changes to take place. One of which will end up costing users a lot of money.
The notable change affects users who are verified or looking to get verified. Twitter’s verification process is there to confirm the authenticity of a person or business in order to protect that user from fake accounts pretending to be them. Like any other social platform, this is a free service that helps both sides as it also helps Twitter cut down on spam (or fake content).
However, Elon seems to think this is a great opportunity to raise profits for the company by packaging this service with the Twitter Blue subscription option (a monthly subscription that opens users to additional features on Twitter, such as an ad-free experience). Charging users a monthly fee in order to have verification status (taking it from a simple feature and turning it into a purchasable privilege).
Not only that but the price of a Twitter Blue subscription is $4.99/month, but that isn’t enough. Apparently, Musk is looking to raise the cost to $20/month as an upgraded tier for those seeking verification status. The new approach would affect both new users looking to be verified as well as those already verified (who will have 90 days to jump on board else they will lose verification status).
It doesn’t end there either as Musk is (apparently) asking Twitter staff to make this possible by November 7th else they will face being fired. That latter part makes it a little hard to swallow and causes us to wonder exactly what was originally said and what is being a little exaggerated by the time it reaches the public.
Musk thinks this will be an excellent way to raise profits and crack down on fake accounts. Although there are probably much better ways to achieve these goals. I personally asked about this here at our offices and was told that it was an unnecessary expense and that we won’t have anything to do with it. Even if it means not being verified on Twitter.
What do you think? Is it worth paying $20/month to be “verified” on a social platform? Feel free to take to the comments below to share your own opinions on the matter.
