It’s hardly been 72 hours since Elon Musk officially bought Twitter and the drama has been nonstop. From Twitter employees on edge about impending layoffs to Musk himself already tweeting a conspiracy theory about the victim of an attempted homicide, the fears of Twitter becoming an even bigger hellscape than it already was seem justified.
Another change on the horizon: Musk is reportedly considering raising the price of Twitter Blue to $20 per month. The catch is that joining Twitter Blue could become mandatory for every verified user on the platform—that is, if they want to keep their coveted blue badge. As the Verge reports, “Twitter is currently planning to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription. Under the plan, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark.”
Oh, and Twitter employees are apparently under the gun on this, too. Those working on the proposed changes to Twitter Blue have reportedly been told that they have until November 7 to launch the $20 “feature” or they will be fired.
We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
A $20 increase might make some sense if you are Musk. Some say he wildly overpaid for Twitter. That means he now needs to find ways to make the platform more profitable than it’s ever been if he and his financial backers don’t want to lose a ton of money.
Some Twitter users, however, aren’t taking kindly to the idea of paying $20 a month to remain verified.
At $240 annually, some say the blue badge just isn’t worth it. Others say the point of the badge—to verify the authenticity of an account—essentially becomes meaningless if anyone can pay for one. And still more point out that if anyone can buy a blue badge, that could raise the profile and opinions of extremist figures.
Musk confirmed on Twitter that the verification process is being “revamped,” although he hasn’t confirmed a monthly charge. Others certainly have weighed in, though. Here’s what some verified users think of the $20 monthly fee to remain verified:
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