‘Richest man in the world saying he wants more money’: Fans Mega Troll Elon Musk After He Says Charging $8 Per Month is ‘Only way to defeat trolls’
Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world with a net worth of $223 billion, has finally acquired Twitter, a microblogging and social networking service, and he took over as CEO of Twitter last week. Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested that the new version of Twitter Blue will include verification for $8 a month, with the price “adjusting by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”
He announced on Tuesday that the company would charge for its sought-after “verified” badge to monetize the Blue service and make social media less reliant on ads. According to Twitter’s new CEO, blue-tick subscribers will receive priority replies, mentions, and search and can post longer videos and audio while dealing with half as many ads.
Elon Musk’s Suggestions To Improve Twitter Verification Process
Twitter’s new owner, billionaire Elon Musk, 51, is already mulling significant changes for the social media platform and faces tough challenges as he enters his first week in the role. As the Securities and Exchange Commission reported on Monday, Twitter’s new owner, Musk, fired the company’s board of directors and became its sole member.
Musk laid out a series of ideas on Tuesday for an improved Twitter verification process after closing the $44 billion transaction to take the platform private.
During a thread of tweets, Musk criticized the current system, which gives a blue check mark, or verification, to notable users, like politicians, press members, executives, and others. Typically, users use it to determine whether an account is legitimate by seeing the check mark. In addition to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, other social networks use similar verification methods.
Twitter’s new CEO said in a tweet,
“Twitter’s current lords & peasants’ system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is b******t. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” adding that the price will be adjusted by “country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”
Users who are public figures will also have a secondary tag below their names, which, as Musk pointed out, already exists for politicians. Additionally, Tesla CEO Musk announced that Twitter Blue subscribers would be granted access to “paywall bypass” features for publishers willing to work with the social media platform.
Using this method, he claimed, “we will destroy the bots” by increasing the “cost of crime on Twitter by several orders of magnitude” and suspending any Blue account that engages in spam.
Despite this, Musk stuck with his suggested plan, tweeting today:
To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
Also, he tweeted in response to his tweet, “Totally stole the idea of charging for insults & arguments from Monty Python, tbh.” He may have confirmed the changes in his tweet today, but it is still being determined whether or not the changes will be implemented.
Fans Troll Elon Musk For New Changes to Twitter
Following his purchase of Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk makes headlines with every tweet he posts. The world is keeping an eye on his tweets to see what he will announce next. However, several people are already taking his announcements to their advantage or disadvantage.
Yesterday, a Twitter handle named Pop Crave tweeted regarding Musk’s new suggestion for verified Twitter accounts, which reads,
“Elon Musk suggests charging $8/mo for verified users to keep their blue check amid backlash for its originally planned price of $20: ‘I will explain the rationale in the longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls.'”
Elon Musk suggests charging $8/mo for verified users to keep their blue check amid backlash for its originally planned price of $20:
“I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls.” pic.twitter.com/54oY4nYYL3
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 1, 2022
Let’s have a look at what people have to say about this:
‘we need to pay the bills somehow’ … how has twitter lasted this long if the bills haven’t been getting paid/struggled to pay? ….. he clearly just wants to make as much money as possible out of twitter. i mean ok but don’t make something up like the bills need paying
— Jas made yunho laugh (@joonsjagiah) November 1, 2022
he’s already a billionaire why does he want more money??
— not delicate 🕛 (@1889outcharted) November 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/Ethos10128/status/1587337571167715328
he just spent 40+ billion on twitter, so he wants to get that money back somehow
— bobby 🤍 (@faceshopp1ng) November 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/danni4pf/status/1587331342638931971
https://twitter.com/Timberline1727/status/1587352968843739136
Twitter already offers a subscription service called Twitter Blue, launched in June last year and includes features such as editing tweets. Besides being a status symbol for users, the blue check mark also allows people to determine which accounts are authentic and which are not, particularly for celebrities, brands, and other influential accounts. Musk creating a paid verification barrier could make it harder to distinguish between a bot and a notable name.
Source: Twitter
