Elon Musk is considering charging Twitter users $20 per month or $240 a year for the verified user status (blue tick) on their account, in an effort to make the platform profitable.
In 2009, Twitter introduced the system as a response to fake impersonations on the platform. However, the “blue tick” grew to become a status symbol, rather than simple proof of identity.
As of 2021, Twitter has around 400,000 verified users and if they all paid the fee, the annual income would still be less than a tenth of Musk’s estimated $1bn in interest payments.
“$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”
– Stephen King, October 31, 2022
“We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”
– Elon Musk, November 1, 2022
