Elon Musk orders Twitter to charge $20/month for verification

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iOS
Twitter is to change its verification system into a revenue stream, with CEO Elon Musk reportedly saying he'll fire staff if it isn't implemented quickly.




Currently, Twitter has a verification system that means celebrities and people of public interest can go through a process that confirms their identity. At the same time, it also has a $4.99/month subscription called Twitter Blue, which affords some small extra customization to the service.

Now according to The Verge, the new owner of Twitter is reportedly planning to increase the cost of Twitter Blue to $19.99, and add in verification to its list of features. It's not clear whether verification would continue to use the same process as before, or whether it will be that anyone paying the $20 can have a verified icon on their Twitter feed.

The whole verification process is being revamped right now

-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk)


Reportedly, once the revamped feature is in place, existing verified users will have 90 days to start paying the $20, or they will lose their verification status.

Twitter has not announced this feature, but according to The Verge, engineers were briefed on October 31, 2022. They were told to implement the change by November 7 - or be fired.

Separately, the Washington Post reports that Musk and colleagues spent October 31 planning a first round of layoffs. Reportedly, the layoffs will affect 25% of Twitter staff.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    NickoTTNickoTT Posts: 9member
    They should all quit.
    ITGUYINSDblastdoorlordjohnwhorfinM68000DAalsetheightzeromagman1979williamlondonbaconstangKTR
  • Reply 2 of 34
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,253member
    Never used Twitter but it looks like Elon is trying to shut it down so he can take a huge tax loss. Wouldn't bother me one bit if it's gone.
    ITGUYINSDDAalsethiOS_Guy80magman1979pulseimagesmuthuk_vanalingamKTRwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 3 of 34
    doaldoal Posts: 27member
    Twitter is going the way of tumblr.  You can’t run a successful business through intimidation. At least not for very long. 
    ITGUYINSDJFC_PAiOS_Guy80twokatmewmagman1979jas99KTRwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 4 of 34
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,465member
    Elon is using best practices for turning billions into millions 
    ITGUYINSDM68000dewmetwokatmewdecoderringmagman1979Alex_Vdanoxjas99williamlondon
  • Reply 5 of 34
    BigBWSRBigBWSR Posts: 10unconfirmed, member
    Classy guy, because intimidation always works so well.
    ITGUYINSDiOS_Guy80twokatmewmagman1979jas99williamlondonmuthuk_vanalingamlolliverwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 6 of 34
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,308member
    NickoTT said:
    They should all quit.
    And go start a competitor to Twitter. 

    It’s hard to overcome the network advantages of an entrenched company like twitter. But Musk might be creating the opportunity for a potential disruptor. 
    M68000twokatmewmagman1979jas99ApplejacsKTRwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 7 of 34
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    $20/month?
    Alex_V
  • Reply 8 of 34
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,703member
    blastdoor said:
    NickoTT said:
    They should all quit.
    And go start a competitor to Twitter. 

    It’s hard to overcome the network advantages of an entrenched company like twitter. But Musk might be creating the opportunity for a potential disruptor. 
    Definitely. I only use Twitter as a pretty much passive tool to stay up-to-date on rail network incidents but the whole Twitter interface is a huge mess. 

    I can't believe how poor it is. There is definitely a better way. 
    magman1979blastdoorjas99CluntBaby92
  • Reply 9 of 34
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,069member
    bloggerblog said:
    Elon is using best practices for turning billions into millions 
    That was a Howie Hughes original. The story is that he was asked in Congress how someone could amass an inconceivably vast personal fortune of one million dollars. I paraphrase, but his response was reportedly, "sir, I believe in a hard work ethic and dedication to one's goals. Also, I inherited two million."
    jas99baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 34
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,069member

    NickoTT said:
    They should all quit.
    Better idea: file a petition to unionize. 
    twokatmewjas99watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 34
    Fred257Fred257 Posts: 237member
    You guys are so out of touch with technology these days with your narcissist Elon Musk posts.

    In the meantime there are innovations happening that you guys are missing.

    https://www.asus.com/us/laptops/for-home/zenbook/zenbook-17-fold-oled-ux9702/
    williamlondon
  • Reply 12 of 34
    AppleishAppleish Posts: 692member
    So glad that Tweetbot still works. To this day, I have never seen a single ad on Twitter. If Twitter ever makes Elon Fascist a single dime, that's when I walk away.
    magman1979williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 34
    maltzmaltz Posts: 454member
    If Musk burns twitter to the ground... I'm okay with that.  Maybe he can buy Facebook next.  lol
    M68000Appleishtnet-primaryblastdoormwhitejas99h2pstompybaconstangmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 14 of 34
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,112member
    Verification is good for users, but It’s also better for Twitter as a whole. A better move would have been to require verification for all users, at no cost. If he doesn’t want to Twitter to be a “free-for-all hellscape,” forcing users to de-verify en masse is not the way to go. And it sounds like he’s lost touch with the value of $20, which is still significant to most people.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 34
    AppleishAppleish Posts: 692member
    maltz said:
    If Musk burns twitter to the ground... I'm okay with that.  Maybe he can buy Facebook next.  lol
    Seriously. I welcome the worst billionaires to buy all society ruining services. Flame out in one incestuous buying spree.
    jas99williamlondonbaconstangmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 34
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,727member
    He said he would do this when he first mentioned buying Twitter. 

    He’s following through. 

    It’s always rough though to start charging for what has previously been free 

    And $20 per month for. A check mark icon? Yikes. 

    Outside of that, a verification/status symbol is Nora bad way to monetize an organization the had become an investor money pit. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 34
    exsangusexsangus Posts: 29member
    I think a few things are going on here. He fired the executive staff “with cause” to avoid paying out stock option entitlements that were about to mature. He had texted with a friend before that his plan was to lay off about 75% of the Twitter work force. Now he is setting up “cause” to fire instead of layoff as much staff as possible which will save him from paying out even more upcoming entitlements, and gets out his new monetization strategy.

    I am a developer and would never work for Elon, but if I were at Twitter now, I would not quit, not work more than my standard day, and when I was fired (which is probably going to happen even to those willing to work 24/7) file wrongful termination with unemployment, get a lawyer and get the ball rolling on the wrongful termination lawsuit that will be coming. He is so arrogant and out of touch that he thinks he can use shortcuts to get what he wants, no matter who he has to run over in order to do this.

    Anyone looking for Twitter alternatives, I highly recommend the massive open source, self run instance, Federated universe known as Mastodon.
    jas99baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 34
    soundsinmotionsoundsinmotion Posts: 80member
    This isn’t innovation this is pure greed. Elon has proven he’s a mess.
    jas99watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 34
    foregoneconclusionforegoneconclusion Posts: 2,689member
    So does Vegas have a line on whether the "verification" part turns out to be a sham? 
    jas99baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 34
    brianjobrianjo Posts: 40member
    Not everyone needs verification.  Verification is for those that are celebrities, politicians, etc, where it's likely that others would create accounts to pretend to be them.  For these people, $20/month is very little money.

    What this does is make it a financial burden to scam the verification system for someone that figured out how to trick the verification process.  Now that 'fake' account you create requires a payment which then creates more of a paper trail as to who is behind the fake account.

    Makes total sense.
    williamhJapheybaconstanganonconformistwatto_cobra
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