Published: Less than 20 min ago
Elon Musk bought Twitter for SEK 483 billion.
Now he wants to be paid.
“How about 8 dollars” tweets the world’s richest man.
A blue tick next to the Twitter profile means the account is verified. Then you know it’s not spam or satire. The blue check is normally used for well-known people with many followers.
It is a service that has so far been free of charge.
But as you know, the American Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has, after a protracted process, eased up considerably and bought the platform Twitter for the equivalent of SEK 483 billion.
Now changes await.
Musk has promised to prioritize “freedom of speech” over “political correctness” – including by welcoming former president Donald Trump back to the platform. It is also rumored that a number of Twitter employees are at risk of being fired.
The author: “To hell with it”
For the blue goat, Elon Musk plans to introduce a premium service for 8 dollars a month, equivalent to 88 kroner.
“Twitter’s current lords and peasants system of who has or doesn’t have a blue tick is bullshit. Power to the people!” Musk wrote.
The information was leaked on Monday and has raised a storm of criticism – not least when the first offer from Musk was 20 dollars a month. Author Stephen King, with 6.9 million followers, saw the suggestion.
“$20 a month to keep my blue tick? Hell either,” King tweeted.
50,600 users retweeted the critical post.
“How about $8,” Musk replied.
The offer did not bite. Stephen King has not allowed himself to be convinced.
So many users are affected
Elon Musk has nevertheless stood his ground. He has promised to clean up bots and spam on the platform. Musk sees that verified accounts should be prioritized in the feed as an important piece of the puzzle in that work. In addition, the ads must be fewer for accounts with a blue tick.
Critics believe that the measure can make it more difficult to distinguish credible sources, write BBC.
Last year, around 400,000 users had a blue tick, writes The Guardian. If everyone chooses to jump on the premium service, it would mean a revenue of 35 million per month for Twitter.
When the change may take effect has not yet been mentioned. In the countries of the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the blue tick currently costs $4.99 a month.