Elon Musk Will Charge 8 US Dollars For Blue Twitter Subscription and Blue Tick

JAKARTA - Twitter Inc will charge $8 per month for its Twitter Blue service, which includes a "verified" badge that many users are looking for. This was said by the social media company's new boss, Elon Musk, on Tuesday, November 1. This is his first to increase subscriptions and make the social media network less dependent on advertising.

"Twitter's current system of lords and farmers for who has or doesn't have a blue tick is bullshit. Power for the people! Blue is $8/month," Musk said in a tweet. He also added that the price will be adjusted proportionally in certain countries by looking at purchasing power parity."

A blue tick next to a person's username, on social media platforms, means Twitter has confirmed that the account belongs to the person or company claiming it. Twitter currently makes it free for most users.

Since the Twitter acquisition, Musk has moved swiftly to put his stamp on the company, firing the company's previous head and other top officials.

Twitter's head of advertising, Sarah Personette, tweeted Tuesday that she had resigned from her post last week, adding further uncertainty to advertisers.

Musk on Tuesday said subscribers with a blue tick will get priority in replies, mentions, and searches and will be able to post longer videos and audio. They will also see ads for half of the regular accounts.

He also offers subscribers a paid wall bypass from "publishers willing to work with us."

Musk's comments follow media reports that he is looking at the profile verification process and how the blue tick was given. Twitter used to award these to important profile accounts based on its own criteria.

More than 80% of Twitter users who took part in a recent poll said they would not pay for the tick. About 10% said they were willing to pay $5 per month.

Twitter already has a subscription service called Twitter Blue, which launched in June last year and offers access to features such as the option to edit tweets.

Amid speculation that Twitter will soon start charging verified users a monthly fee of US$20 for a blue tick, bestselling author Stephen King tweeted: "If it were institutionalized, I would be like Enron."

Separately, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Twitter to B- due to a "significant" increase in debt following the acquisition of Elon Musk.