UPDATE: Musk has served up more details about this $8-per-month plan in a new tweetstorm.
Original Story:
Elon Musk this week seemingly confirmed reports that Twitter is looking to charge $20 per month for users to keep their verified blue checkmarks, but it looks like the company’s new owner is willing to negotiate on price.
After acclaimed author Stephen King threatened to leave Twitter over the potential $20 fee on Monday night, Musk asked if he'd consider a lower price.
“$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron,” King wrote in a tweet. In response, Musk tweeted back: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”
The company plans on charging users for the blue checkmark as early as this month through a new Twitter Blue subscription, according to The Verge. If a user fails to pay, then they’ll lose their verified blue tick within 90 days.
Musk is working on the idea after securing $44 billion to buy Twitter, a company that’s historically failed to make a profit. Last year alone, the company reported an operating loss of $493 million. Hence, Musk has to work fast to turn the social media platform around.
King and other celebrities, as well as brands, can certainly afford $8 to $20 per month to keep their verified blue checkmarks. But as King explained to a user on Twitter: “It ain't the money, it's the principal of the thing.”
Twitter added the blue checkmark back in 2009 as a security feature to help users distinguish high-profile accounts from imposters. It’s also clear that celebrities, such as King, help drive sign-ups and engagement on Twitter. As a result, instituting a $20 monthly fee for a blue checkmark could alienate famous people and damage Twitter's reputation.
In a follow-up tweet, Musk said: “I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots and trolls.”
In the meantime, at least one hacker has been exploiting the news by spreading phishing emails impersonating Twitter that claim a user can keep their verified blue check mark for free so long as they hand over their Twitter password and phone number.