OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Billionaire Elon Musk has made another major decision as Twitter’s CEO.
According to reports, the Tesla founder said Monday he will hold off relaunching the platform’s blue check subscription service, delaying an initial tentative deadline, Reuters reported. He also suggested that future ‘checkmarks’ could take on different colors depending on the category or verified designee.
“Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation,” Musk said in a tweet. “Will probably use different color check for organizations than individuals.”
Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation.
Will probably use different color check for organizations than individuals.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2022
Recently, Musk announced an $8 blue check subscription service, which led to a ballooning of fake accounts, according to Reuters, which then led the Twitter CEO and owner to rethink the initial launch date. He said that the relaunch will now be pushed back to Nov. 29.
In late October, reports said that Twitter was planning to start charging nearly $20 a month for users to keep their “blue checkmarks” on the platform as part of a premium package that will be rolled out under Musk, who took over the social media company late last month.
A report from The Verge states that the “directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users.”
The current reported plan is to charge users $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue. Existing verified accounts will have 90 days to sign up for the new $19.99 package or they will lose their verification badge, the report stated.
“Now that he owns Twitter, Elon Musk has given employees their first ultimatum: Meet his deadline to introduce paid verification on Twitter or pack up and leave. The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users, according to people familiar with the matter and internal correspondence seen by The Verge,” the outlet reported.
“Twitter is currently planning to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription. Under the current plan, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark. Employees working on the project were told on Sunday that they need to meet a deadline of November 7th to launch the feature or they will be fired,” the outlet continued.
“The Twitter Blue subscription launched widely almost a year ago as a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers and make other tweaks to the app, such as a different color home screen icon. In the few quarters that Twitter reported earnings as a public company after that debut, advertising remained the vast majority of its revenue. Musk is keen on growing subscriptions to become half of the company’s overall revenue,” the report added.
Musk has also toyed with the idea of charging users $8 a month for the once-coveted blue check mark.
Earlier this month, Musk’s platform rolled out a new way to identify “official” Twitter accounts, but then “killed” the idea hours later.
“The social media platform is working to reconsider which users receive the blue checkmark icon next to their names,” the Daily Wire reported. “Before the world’s richest man acquired the company, the symbol indicated accounts belonging to celebrities, official government agencies, members of the media, and other ‘authentic accounts of public interest,’ according to a help page published by Twitter.”
Not long after ‘Official’ began to appear, it disappeared, with Musk tweeting: “I killed it.”
“Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” he noted further, adding that the platform will “keep what works” and “change what doesn’t.”
Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months.
We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
The Daily Wire added: “Some criticism regarding the new verification and pricing regime was less than constructive. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) complained that “a billionaire” was “earnestly trying to sell people on the idea” that free expression comes at the price of an $8 subscription plan. Musk responded, “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8,” and posted a screenshot of a hoodie that the lawmaker sells online for $58.”
