Twitter is strongly considering charging verified users $19.99 per month to use Twitter Blue, according to reports in The Verge and Platformer, as Elon Musk seeks alternative ways of picking up more revenue.
According to the reports, which broke yesterday, Musk, who is expected to set out more layoffs this week, has tasked staff with updating Twitter Blue and quadrupling the subscription price from its current level of $4.99 per month. If staff fail to update by November 7, they could lose their roles, according to the reports.
Twitter Blue is a feature for verified users, those with a blue tick, that unlocks additional features. Under Musk’s plan, these thousands of verified users would have 90 days to subscribe to the new version or lose their blue tick – seen as a badge of honor in many professions.
One of Musk’s major moves since his botched acquisition of Twitter first started gaining traction has been to focus on verified accounts and bots.
The deal nearly collapsed after he claimed the company was failing to provide the number of spam bots on the service. He was eventually forced into buying Twitter as the transaction was too far gone but yesterday tweeted: “The whole verification process is being revamped right now.”
Musk’s chaotic reign in charge of Twitter has included rumors of multiple layoffs – many in middle management – hoax layoffs, the forging of a planned “content moderation council” and, most recently, Musk censoring himself by tweeting then deleting a post about the attack on Paul Pelosi. Other changes include alterations to the homepage for logged out users, with much more expected this week.