Elon Musk confirms Blue Tick Twitter users will have to pay, says it is only way to defeat bots

Elon Musk recently announced that his newly acquired company, Twitter, is planning to revamp its verification system, which adds a blue tick next to the profile name. However, social media platforms, including Twitter, were abuzz after a report claimed that the company is considering charging a fee for the blue tick. Musk has now indicated that the rumour is accurate, and the company is considering charging up to $20, which roughly translates to Rs 1,600 for the prestigious blue tick. If not $20, Twitter may consider charging $8 (roughly Rs 670) from users for the blue badge.

Musk confirmed the development while replying to American author Stephen King. In a tweet, King spoke about the original report by The Verge about Twitter charging $20 from users to keep their blue tick. He said, "$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron." In the same tweet, Musk replied, "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?"

In another tweet, King remarked that it is not about money, "it's the principal of the thing". Many fans agreed with King since Twitter's own official website explains that the "blue verified badge" lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. If people start paying for the badge, it will lose its credibility, users claim. However, Musk says the move is necessary as it is the only way to not fully rely on advertisers and fight bots.

The old report points out that the Twitter blue tick will become a part of the Twitter Blue subscription, which is available in select countries minus India. The subscription brings exclusive features such as 'undo' and 'edit' tweets. The report also pointed out that existing verified users will get 90 days to get the Twitter Blue subscription once the updates to the verification system are made. Twitter may increase the price of Twitter Blue from $4 per month to $20 per month.

Twitter may roll out the new verification system by November 7, since Musk has given a deadline to developers. They will reportedly lose their jobs if they fail to meet the date. Meanwhile, a new report points out that Musk is planning to fire 25 per cent of the Twitter workforce in the coming week. It will allow the new owner to reduce operational costs and de-clutter Twitter's messy team structure. In Musk's own words, "There seem to be 10 people [at Twitter] 'managing' for every one person coding".