In a bizarre attempt to create some kind of income stream for the free-to-use app, Musk instituted a subscription for the platform; taking away ‘blue tick verifications’ so that anyone purchases for a tick at $8 a pop. Musk denounced the existing hierarchical structure of Twitter, describing it as an elitist system dividing users into “lords” and “peasants.” Instead, he proposed a change, stating that anyone could obtain a verification checkmark by subscribing to Twitter Blue, a monthly paid subscription. This subscription would offer additional features such as tweet editing, an expanded character limit, and prioritised visibility in search results and reply rankings. Musk’s aim was to democratise access to enhanced Twitter functionalities, making them available to a broader range of users rather than solely benefiting the select few. This is no Robin Hood act, though and it’s seen Twitter lose credibility, loyal followers and generally marked Elon Musk as someone with little to no vision on how to run a social media app. Let’s not forget that he also fired about 80% of the company, too.
It seems the controversy was too much even for Elon, who subtweeted himself to state that soon verified users would increase from 6,000 to 8,000 and then to 10,000, and unverified users would climb to 800 and 1,000 respectively, and new unverified accounts would reach 300 to 400 and finally, a generous 500 for their brand-spanking-new Twitter experience. Another lesson in the futility of the ruling class, we suppose.
