Musk says Twitter will charge $8/month for blue check mark By Reuters

(Reuters) -Twitter Inc will cost $8 a month for its Blue service, which incorporates its sought-after “verified” badge, new boss Elon Musk stated on Tuesday as he seeks to spice up subscriptions and make the social media community much less reliant on advertisements.

“Twitter’s present lords & peasants system for who has or would not have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Energy to the folks! Blue for $8/month,” Musk stated in a tweet, including that the value can be adjusted by “nation proportionate to buying energy parity.”

A blue test mark subsequent to an individual’s consumer title on the social media platform means Twitter has confirmed that the account belongs to the individual or firm claiming it. Twitter is at present free for many customers.

Billionaire Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion final week.

For the reason that takeover, he has moved rapidly to place his stamp on the corporate, firing its earlier chief and different high officers.

Twitter’s promoting chief, Sarah Personette, tweeted on Tuesday that she had resigned her publish final week, including additional uncertainty for advertisers.

Musk on Tuesday stated subscribers with blue test marks would get precedence in replies, mentions and search and would have the ability to publish longer movies and audios. They’d see half as many advertisements.

He additionally provided subscribers a pay wall bypass from “publishers prepared to work with us.”

Musk’s feedback comply with media studies that he was wanting on the strategy of profile verification and the way the blue test marks got. Twitter used to provide these to noteworthy profiles based mostly by itself standards.

Greater than 80% of Twitter customers who took half in a current ballot stated they’d not pay for the checkmark. Some 10% stated they had been prepared to pay $5 a month.

Twitter already has a subscription service known as Twitter Blue, which was launched in June final 12 months and presents entry to options corresponding to an choice to edit tweets.

Amid hypothesis that Twitter might quickly begin charging verified customers a month-to-month charge of $20 for blue ticks, bestselling creator Stephen King tweeted: “If that will get instituted, I am gone like Enron.”

Individually, S&P World (NYSE:) Rankings downgraded Twitter to B- on “important” debt improve following the acquisition.