Elon Musk took over Twitter a couple of days ago, following the dramatic conflict over the $44 billion deal. Even before he proposed the deal to buy Twitter and make it private, Musk had been vocal about how he would change Twitter for the better. It looks like Musk is wasting no time, and is all set to bring in some changes. In fact, Musk is turning out to be a tough boss who has already given his employees his very first ultimatum; Meet his paid verification deadline or kiss their jobs goodbye. Looks like Musk is not in the mood to go easy on anyone. Read along to know more.
Paid Verification
Musk’s plan to start charging for verification has been met with disapproval from a good majority of users. However, it looks like the new head of Twitter is not planning to back down. At present, Twitter Blue, the company’s optional subscription charges $4.99 per month, and comes with additional features. Musk’s plan is to take this up a notch and make it a more expensive subscription which will also verify the users. Reports suggest that Twitter is planning to charge about $20 per month for the new subscription. The price is subject to changes in the future. The question here is how much is a user willing to pay for a verified account. We will have to wait and see.
Employees working on the project were given an ultimatum by the ‘Chief Twit’ on Sunday. They have to finish the job on time, i.e., or kiss their jobs goodbye. Looks like Musk is definitely going to be a competition for Michael Scott.
This plan to charge a monthly fee for verification is not a sudden and unexpected blow. Because Musk has made it quite clear in the months leading to his acquisition that he had plans to change how Twitter verifies accounts and handles bots. Musk also expects subscriptions to contribute to half of the overall revenue of the company.
Let us flip through a couple of reactions and responses on Twitter to see what the users think about Musk’s plans.
https://twitter.com/Danielsand/status/1586884446581661697?s=20&t=eBcvKUzOiPQgWyMXOpkIBw
The whole point of verification is to identify to users that an account is who they appear to be. This system completely removes that functionality and makes it nothing more than a signal for who does and doesn't pay Twitter.
— CaptainSauce (@TheCaptainSauce) October 31, 2022
Mmm yes a good useful feature, Elon sure wants to make this a fun & usable platform of the future with innovative new features such as this and isn’t grifting the hell out of it to hoard money from everyone else as usual
— cravatクラバット🍷 (@datcravat) October 31, 2022
Yikes. Sounds like a healthy work environment. /s pic.twitter.com/Yi082veLRX
— Adil Zohrri (@AZohrri) October 31, 2022
why does the richest man in the world need people to pay 240 bucks every year for something that was free before now
— Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) October 31, 2022
Wow that’s a lot… I have a feeling most will not pay that.
— Nicholas Griffin (@ngriffin_uk) October 31, 2022