Twitter verification has never seemed more easy or more difficult at the same time. The good part? You can now buy a verification badge for your twitter account even if you’re not a notable celebrity, the flip side? You have to pay a monthly bill of $8 to use this ‘free app’.
Elon Musk for sure wants to retain his spot as the worlds richest man and his new ploy to get twitter users to spend more money seems to a done deal.
The twitter badges will now be a part of an $8 a month verification subscription and according to rumors, twitter could start implementing it from as early as Monday.
Users who already have a blue verification badge will have a multi-month grace period before they will either need to pay for the badge or lose it, said one of the people, who requested anonymity discussing plans that aren’t public.
The company also plans to expand access to its edit function. The edit feature, currently available to so-called Twitter Blue users who pay $4.99 a month, will be opened to the rest of users for free, one of the people said. That change could be implemented as soon as this week, the person said.
This news has been received with a lot of mixed reviews. A lot of people are not in support of it and will therefore not pay to keep the badge or even buy it. Others are in support of it and believe it a smart business move.
Musk has revealed that his new plan will help keep spammers and bots at bay. The possibility of your account being hacked will also be greatly reduced.
In the past, blue verification badges has been used by twitter to segment its customers. High profile celebrities and notable names typically receive the blue checks and this help reduce the chances of someone else impersonating your account.
Elon Musk refers to this current twitter setup as a “lords and peasants system,”.
Users who are able to pay the $8 fee will be able to enjoy some new perks such as “half as many ads” and “priority in replies, mentions & search.”
Users who do not pay the $8 fee risk the possibility of their posts not being seen because they will not be given priority.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also given her take on Twitter’s new verification rule.
She tweeted,
“Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan,”.
Musk replied her with an equally savage response
“Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8,” Musk tweeted.
While Twitter users who have badges now have to pay this $8 monthly fee, Twitter will still allow government and religious accounts that are verified to stay verified.
