Twitter's new owner billionaire Elon Musk announced that the verification blue tick in front of a user's name that authenticates the account will now be available at a price of eight dollars per month.
Moments later, social media was abuzz with the debate over the new fees introduced by Musk. #bluetick was the top trend on Twitter and Bollywood celebrities couldn't stop themselves to comment on the same.
Musk blasted the "current lords and peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark", using an expletive. "Power to the people! Blue for USD 8 per month," he tweeted adding that the price is adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity.
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri took to his Twitter handle and wrote, "If anyone wants to win next elections in Delhi, he should promise free #BlueTick to Delhiites. He may win with 100% margin."
Meanwhile, self-proclaimed critic and actor Kamaal R Khan, also known as KRK on Twitter wrote, "Dear @elonmusk I don't have time to pay monthly charges, So I will pay for 5 years in advance. Pls send me the link to pay."
KRK later added, "Thanks to #ElonMusk for charging fees. Now all these lukkha journalists will run away from Twitter, who are having few hundred followers with blue tick.Hey @elonmusk what is the charge for reactivation of a suspended account? My many friends are ready to pay even $1000." [sic]
Meanwhile, on the work front, Vivek's last directorial film was 'The Kashmir Files' which became one of the biggest hits of the year. The film is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. He recently announced his next project 'The Delhi Files'. It is reportedly based on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
What's for $8
Musk revealed some extra benefits for the users for $8. He wrote, "You will also get:
- Priority in replies, mentions & search, which is essential to defeat spam/scam
- Ability to post long video & audio
- Half as many ads
- And paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us
Reacting to the same, author Stephen King wrote, "$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron." Elon Musk quickly responded by saying, "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?" [sic]
(With PTI inputs)
We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
