The new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, announced on Tuesday the upcoming launch of an $8-a-month subscription for users who want to have their account certified as authentic and be less exposed to advertising.
The social network has been offering subscription-based paid features since last year, but the chief executive wants a new, more expensive and more widely adopted programme that will diversify the platform’s revenue streams.
“Twitter's current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8 a month,” tweeted the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, who bought Twitter on Thursday.
He plans to meld together Twitter Blue – a $5-a-month subscription for a more comfortable reading experience and editing tools – and the ability for eligible accounts to have their identities verified and certified.
Currently, only certain profiles can apply for this blue checkmark authenticity, mostly governments, businesses, media, political, cultural or sports figures, etc. They can lose their badge if they are unable to use it or if they do not respect the platform’s rules.
On Friday, Musk asked engineers to work tirelessly on overhauling the system. He said subscribers would have other benefits: their tweets would appear first, they would be able to post longer videos and audio messages, and they would be exposed to “half as much advertising”.
The price of the subscription will be adjusted according to the country.
