Latest Twitter Updates
On Wednesday morning, Elon Musk posted a series of tweets announcing the latest news that Twitter Blue Subscribers will pay a total of $8 per month in order to have a verified checkmark on their Twitter accounts as well as announcing that there will be a secondary tag below the name of public figures like politicians.
Critical over the current hierarchy system Twitter has that separates ordinary users from higher-ranking influential accounts, Musk denounced the “lords and peasants” system by making a verified checkmark accessible to anyone willing to pay a monthly subscription fee, which initially was deemed to have been $20 a month.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
What will Twitter Blue Subscribes get for $8 per month?
There has been global outrage as many believe the new revenue scheme is Musk’s attempt of transforming the platform into an authoritarian playground where those willing to pay, get to stay and have their voices heard.
Musk clarified that the price for Blue Subscribers will be adjusted by country proportionate to the purchasing power parity and will include the following benefits:
- Priority in replies, mentions & searches, which is essential to defeating spam/scam activity
- Ability to post long video & audio
- Half as many ads
- Paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with Twitter
The new verification system will also give Twitter a stable revenue stream in order to reward content creators and incentivize producing more tweets to be shared, liked and push relevant content to be created for higher user engagement.
Why the public outrage over $8 dollars for verified accounts?
On the one hand, we understand the necessity for Musk to tackle a $221 million yearly loss in revenue into positive growth and profitable company turnover by charging Twitter Blue Subscribers for the privileges they get and offering them tools that make using the platform beneficial towards what they have to say.
Yet Elon Musk’s new strategies deem to be contradicting the solutions which he proposes it will fix. For one, instead of making it a solution for filtering out spam or bot accounts on Twitter, many users believe it will dilute the value of the blue tick verification as it will now be easily accessible to anyone to buy themselves into an elevated position of free speech.
“So I can create an account with a celebrity name, pay $8 and everyone will believe I am actually this person. How on earth will this help in the fight against spam/impersonation on social media? Same for journalists: No more verification of who is reliable and who is not”
Twitter user replied to Musk’s tweet
The easy accessibility for anyone who does not have credible authority on a subject matter to voice their thoughts on Twitter will cause real important users to leave, and take with them the users necessary to justify the platform. In addition, when businesses and media buy blue ticks, it can then be easily turned into a way to monetize their tweets. Making Twitter become a billboard for irrelevant media announcements and subconscious marketing.
Many influencers condemn having to pay to get their accounts verified as they have worked hard to garner a following and now the value of hard work and growing a relevant fan base can be acquired by anyone willing to pay a small fee?!
“So – the way to do away with the “lords & peasants” system is to [checks notes] elevate the tweets and replies of those able to afford to pay $8 a month for this platform Vs those who cannot? And you don’t see the hypocrisy here?”
Verified Twitter user codemning the hypocrasy of Musk’s strategy
David Rothchild replied to Musk’s announcement by simply outing the ridiculousness of the easy access to elevated speech by saying “the more money you spend the more elevated your speech?”
This in turn makes us question where to draw the line between having easy accessibility to a platform that voices the free speech of uncredible users in contrast to having reliable sources work their way to verify getting a blue tick.
Elon Musk is testing the boundaries of free speech by incentivizing arguments and making money while at it
Elon Musk has not had a moment to rest as the newly self-appointed CEO and sole director of Twitter has been on a rampage tweeting riddles and brainstorming strategies on how to make Twitter the most relevant conversation and information platform in the world.
One of his latest controversial statements, which he tweeted after seeing the public backlash of announcing the new fee for Twitter Blue Subscribers, is that complainers generated engagement and caused a stir of divided ideas whether or not they are for or against his strategies.
By adding fuel to the fire, Musk said that companies and people should please continue to complain as the cost would still be $8 – making fun of those upset at Musk for making a verified tick an equal playing field.
Musk then continues by sharing a video of “charging for arguments” from Monty Python to accelerate the rage users take out onto his profile.
Totally stole idea of charging for insults & arguments from Monty Python tbh https://t.co/oFKRyp3BS7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
Ultimately, from a different perspective, this contradicts the whole idea of having boundless free speech as Musk is limiting people from delivering their relevant comments and concerns if they don’t pay to have their voices elevated. Leaving users forced to pay to not get lost in the conversation while Musk is making money out of it all!
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