Twitter charged $ 8 for a blue tick in the first major social media platform change since it became owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
Sharjah 24 – Reuters:
Twitter updated its Apple Store app to start charging a $ 8 fee for a blue tick in the first major social media platform change since it became owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
The change comes after Musk acquired the popular social media company for $ 44 billion. Musk, who is also the CEO of electric car company Tesla, has fired half of Twitter’s employees and promised to charge users more fees.
In the new update, the app claims that those who “want to join now” for $ 7.99 a month will have a blue check mark next to their username “just like the celebrities, businesses and politicians you already follow.”
Prior to Musk’s acquisition of the company, a blue check mark next to the username on the social media platform meant that “Twitter” confirmed that the account belonged to that person or company.
It is not yet clear if and how the platform intends to verify the identity of the payer.
According to a notice on the reason for the update, other benefits include eliminating half of the ads, the ability to post longer videos on Twitter, and prioritizing higher-quality content.
Neither Twitter nor Musk via Tesla responded to requests for comment.
Musk previously indicated that he would implement it as part of his efforts to raise money from the social network and reduce his addiction to advertising.
The Twitter account is currently free for most users.
The update states that the new service is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.
“Once we are sure it works efficiently in that initial set of countries and are done with the translation work, we will roll it out worldwide,” Musk said in a tweet on Saturday.
