Reactions as Twitter verified users to pay $20 per month for their status

Reactions have followed media reports that Twitter-verified users will pay a $20 monthly fee to keep their verification.

According to reports, verified or ‘blue tick’ users will have to pay to maintain their verification status in the future, or it will be revoked. The company’s goal is to charge these users a $4.99 monthly subscription fee in order to unlock additional features. A new Twitter Blue subscription would also cost $19.99. Current verified users will have 90 days from the launch date to sign up for the new feature.

The service must be launched by November 7th, and failure to do so will have serious consequences for the development team. On Sunday, Musk responded to a Twitter user who asked for help with the verification process. He stated.

Many people are perplexed as to why Elon Musk, who has previously expressed concern about the number of spam accounts on the platform, would want to discourage more people from becoming verified by imposing fees.

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The monthly fee for Twitter users in Nigeria would be around N16,000 Naira. This implies that many Nigerians, particularly those who do not use their accounts to make money, may lose their badge if they are unable or unwilling to pay.

Twitter classifies notable accounts into various categories. These include the government, news organizations, journalists, companies, brands, and organizations, entertainment, sports, and gaming, activists, organizers, and content creators, as well as influential individuals. The blue badge is a status symbol for many users.

About 360,000 verified accounts were recorded by the microblogging platform, accounting for 0.2 percent of Twitter’s monetizable daily active users. Users who are verified can also upload videos up to 10 minutes long and more. When it first launched in 2021, the cost of verification was $3, but it was raised to $5 in October.

Details on the reported $20 verification charge: 

Several media reports quoted some Twitter employees to have said that Elon Musk gave them an ultimatum to introduce paid verification on Twitter or pack up and leave. Recall that Mr. Musk took over ownership of the company last week after a $44 million deal. 

The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional $ 4.99-a-month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users.  

The Plan for Twitter Blue Subscription: Twitter is currently planning to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription. Under the current plan, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark. Employees working on the project were told on Sunday that they need to meet a deadline of November 7th to launch the feature or they will be fired. 

What the users are saying: 

Following the news, many verified users on Twitter have been voicing their misgivings. One verified user identified as Katie Mack said: 

The whole verification process is being revamped right now

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022

Multibillionaire tech bro has let his big mouth and ego trap him into overpaying by 3x to buy a problematic platform in the worst deal of all time, and now he wants to charge $240/year (N192k) to keep a blue tick on verified user profiles.

LOL pls take ithttps://t.co/Sqrx5chZJy

— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) October 31, 2022

BREAKING: Twitter will charge $20 a month for verification badge

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) October 31, 2022

16K monthly for Twitter verification ke, Elon Musk don dey carry us go where we no know o

— LERRY 👑 (@_AsiwajuLerry) October 31, 2022

I don’t know how many times this needs to be said…

A verification check mark only means Twitter has verified the identity of the person tweeting.

It does NOT mean anything else.

— Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار (@yashar) October 30, 2022

The point of Twitter verification is that for certain individuals/organizations it’s useful to be able to verify their statements are coming from them. (This is why so many journalists/reporters are verified.) It’s supposed to help combat disinformation, not be a status symbol.

— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) October 31, 2022

Verification badge will lose it value, Elon musk nice tactics😂👍

— provii (@provii8) October 31, 2022