Elon Musk Blasted Twitter Checkmarks As 'Lords & Peasants BS' & He'll Make You A Lord For $8
Power to the people (who will pay for it)!
Elon Musk tweeted new details about his big plans for Twitter on Tuesday, and it sounds like the platform will kind of suck unless you pay $8 a month.
"Twitter's current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullsh*t," he tweeted. "Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."
That would be Twitter Blue, the premium Twitter service that's currently $5 per month. Twitter Blue used to give users the chance to monetize their content and edit their tweets, but under Musk, those users will also get a blue "verified" checkmark on their names.
In other words, you can pay $8 per month to be a lord. Otherwise you'll be one of the peasants.
According to Musk, Twitter Blue will generally make your experience better on the platform. He says Twitter Blue users will get "priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam."
He also says Twitter Blue users will see "half as many ads," and they'll be allowed to post long video and audio.
He adds that users will also get "paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us."
It's unclear who those publishers will be, but Musk has already mocked The New York Times and The Guardian in the days since he took over.
He says the move will help Twitter cut down on spam and create a "revenue stream to reward content creators."
Musk's Twitter fans applauded the move.
However, many others pointed out that he seems to be missing the real point of verification on social media. Generally speaking, the blue checkmarks are used across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to confirm that public-facing figures are who they say they are. That includes everyone from actors and musicians to politicians, journalists and name brands.
"are you aware that a blue check isn’t a status symbol and that it’s merely a way for people in the public eye who are more likely to be impersonated to identify their legitimate account amongst countless imposters trying to scam people or..????" asked DJ Laura Lux, who has a checkmark.
"I had a porn star posting her body parts pretending to be me in 2009 on here... hence the verification," tweeted model Adrianne Curry. "It caused major issues in my life ... as it was beyond explicit."
"If EVERYONE can buy a symbol of status/value then NOBODY actually has status/value," another user tweeted at Musk. "Making blue checks buyable literally removes the function and value of the blue check."
"There are so many weirdos pretending to be other people," tweeted another critic. "How is this to stop them from paying $8 (per) month to be verified, even though they are fake?"
Musk had reportedly been mulling a $20 fee for his revamped Twitter Blue service, but horror writer Stephen King ripped him for it on Halloween and got him to back the price off to $8 instead.
"We need to pay the bills somehow!" Musk tweeted at King.
The Verge reports that Musk has given his new Twitter staff until November 7 to make his changes or they'll be fired. The new Twitter Blue service would have some form of identity verification to make sure people are who the say they are.
Those who already have a checkmark will have 90 days to subscribe or they will lose it.
Musk bought the platform for $44 billion last week and he's been actively answering suggestions and changing his plans for it ever since.