Twitter Blue Badge to Now Cost $8 A Month; Perks Include Priority in Search, Paywall Bypass & More

Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk on Tuesday announced that the social media company will charge $8 per month if the user wants the “blue tick”, which shows an account has been verified. Along with announcing the blue badge charge, the 51-year-old billionaire also apprised the people about the “powers” they will get which include priority in replies, the ability to post long videos and audio, and many more such features.

Taking to Twitter, Musk, who completed the USD 44 billion acquisition of the social media giant, said, “Twitter’s current lords and peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”

In a series of tweets, he said, “Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.”

Musk’s new plan for the verified tick includes giving priority in replies, mentions and searches to “defeat spam/scam”, the ability to post long video and audio, half as many advertisements, and a paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with Twitter.

You will also get:
– Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
– Ability to post long video & audio
– Half as many ads

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

He added, “This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators.”

As the reports about Twitter mulling to charge for blue tick emerged earlier in the day, people expressed their willingness to give away their blue ticks. Most users believe that the verification process should continue to remain free, like it is at the moment.

On October 29, Musk said Twitter will form a “content moderation council” and any major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen after such a body has convened. “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,” Musk tweeted on Friday.

“To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies,” he had added.

For the unversed, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, legal executive Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett were ousted as Musk’s acquisition was completed.

After taking over the reins of Twitter, the Tesla CEO had posted a series of tweets and said, “The bird is freed.” “Spoiler Alert. Let the good times roll”, “Living the Dream. Comedy is now legal on Twitter”.

After initially agreeing to buy the company in April, Musk spent months attempting to get out of the deal, first citing concerns about the number of bots on the platform and later allegations raised by a company whistleblower.

Musk also updated his Twitter description to “Chief Twit.” Musk has promised to transform Twitter by loosening the service’s content moderation rules, making its algorithm more transparent and nurturing subscription businesses, as well as laying off employees.

On Thursday, Musk wrote a message to reassure advertisers that social messaging services wouldn’t devolve into “a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk said in the message.

“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far-right wing and far left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”

(with the inputs from PTI)

Read all the Latest Tech News here