Twitter Blue fees were set at $3 per month and then increased to $5 in July. Elon Musk now wants to charge verified users $20 per month, and they have 90 days to sign up for the plan. Additionally, Twitter employees should implement the new policy by November 7th, with their jobs in line. Of course, Musk already clarified that he plans to revamp the whole verification process, but almost no one expected to see a $20 fee for the Blue subscription. Twitter Blue was first launched to give more features to users in exchange for paying a subscription fee. The company has recently activated the edit button for Blue users in the United States.
Twitter wants to charge verified accounts $20 per month for the Blue subscription
Twitter currently has over 428,000 verified accounts and 206 million daily active users. Only some verified accounts will be willing to pay $20 per month to keep their verified badge, and this strategy might create massive dissatisfaction among journalists and public figures. It might also increase the number of bots and fake accounts on the platform. As cosmologist and writer Katie Mack argues, “The point of Twitter verification is that for certain individuals/organizations, it’s useful to be able to verify their statements are coming from them.” Also, “it’s supposed to help combat disinformation, not be a status symbol.” Elon Musk already started the revamp process, by firing Twitter’s top executives. It seems like 75% of the workforce won’t be fired after all. Musk denied the news of mass layoffs, it seems that Twitter employees are still at risk of laying off by Musk.
