Would you be willing to pay money to have a certified account on Twitter? According to reports, that's what Elon Musk, the new owner of the social network, wants to rapidly put into place.
If you've always wanted to have a verified Twitter account, it appears that you may soon be in luck... As long as you can afford it, that is. According to media website The Verge, Elon Musk has asked Twitter's teams to set up a new monthly subscription option priced at US$19.99 (RM94) to get the famous blue checkmark on one's account. That means a user would have to spend US$239.88 (RM1,132) per year to be "verified."
An ultimatum?
Related to this new approach to verified accounts, Elon Musk is reportedly working on revamping the existing US$4.99 (RM23) Twitter Blue paid subscription into a more expensive but more comprehensive offer, that would include account certification. Available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, a Twitter Blue subscription gives users access to premium features such as the ability to cancel a tweet or view articles without ads.
Users who already hold verified accounts won't be exempt from this new expense. To keep their badges, they'll have to sign up for the new subscription within 90 days.
The boss of Tesla and SpaceX seems to want to implement this new policy quickly since, according to the US-based media, the employees in charge of this project have only until November 7, 2022 to launch the subscription under penalty of being fired if the deadlines are not met.
Elon Musk has never hidden his intention to boost paid subscriptions on the social network with the aim of achieving 50% of Twitter's revenue that way.
The billionaire also already explained how the verification of accounts could then put an end to "bots," those automated accounts that are a plague on social networks. – AFP Relaxnews
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