Elon Musk’s plans to revamp Twitter’s verification system — and potentially charge $20 a month for coveted “blue checks” — have verified users chirping about whether the fee can be value it.
Journalists — a few of whom feel like they’re a part of what makes the social media site useful — bristled on the proposed changes.
“I’m not paying Twitter greater than I’m paying Netflix every month,” CNBC anchor David Faber said Monday, referencing the streaming giant that sells subscriptions for as little as $6.99 monthly. “Now we have hundreds of thousands of followers. Why should we pay?”
Jim Cramer, Faber’s co-host on “Squawk on the Street,” crowed: “I’m not paying them anything. They need to pay me.”
Still, a banker aware of Twitter’s pondering said charging for verification is the easiest method for the corporate to quickly make a profit — and argued that for many users who’ve spent years constructing their Twitter profile and online brand, shelling out $19.99 a month is a fait accompli.
“There is no such thing as a alternative platform for global social discourse,” the banker told The Post. “Are you actually going to present it up and begin from scratch by not paying $20 a month? You have got to undergo with it.”
One other insider who has worked with Twitter added that a part of the appeal of blue checks is that tweets from verified users are boosted by the positioning’s algorithm.
One crafty blue-check Twitter user told The Post he already has a contingency plan if his blue check mark is removed: Take a screenshot of his current verification status and make it his cover photo or pinned tweet.
In a test of Twitter users’ attitudes toward the potential fee, Jason Calacanis, a enterprise capitalist who’s advising Musk, conducted a Twitter poll late Sunday asking if users can be willing to pay for Twitter verification and a blue check mark. Greater than 81% of respondents said they wouldn’t pay for the perk.
In response to Calacanis’ poll, Musk wrote: “Interesting.”
Musk and Calacanis didn’t reply to requests for comment. It’s unclear whether the corporate will reconsider the reported plan.
