Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Elon Musk Bargains with Stephen King for the Price of Blue Tick

Author Stephen King has slammed Elon Musk’s idea of monetizing the Blue Tick, a mark that represents authentic user profiles. The new Twitter boss is considering charging users 20 USD a month or 240 USD a year to remain verified on the platform. According to reports, it will be another perk of the Twitter Blue subscription service, which previously cost 5 USD a month. The revamped verification process will reportedly roll out on November 7. Verified users will be required to subscribe to the new service within 90 days; otherwise, they will lose their check mark. The billionaire received mixed responses from the users, including King, who used an F-word to describe his thoughts about the proposed changes. The writer also claimed that the company should pay him instead of asking him for money.

Are 20 USD Too Much for a Blue Tick?

The billionaire responded to King’s tweet, saying that the company could not always rely on the income from advertisements. Shockingly, Musk proposed a renewed price of 8 USD in a bargaining effort. It was unclear if the Tesla CEO was being sarcastic or if he genuinely assumed the bestselling author could not afford 20 USD. Musk further said he would give details later but stressed that charging a premium fee for Blue Tick was the only way to “defeat” bots and trolls.

Response from Users

The conversation between Elon Musk and Stephen King went viral, with proponents and opponents on both sides. Those who sided with King suggested the author let go of the Blue Tick as it wouldn’t affect his fame. King already has 6.9 million followers on Twitter and probably more in real life. He has written hundreds of short stories and over 60 novels. His work in horror, mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi inspired countless Hollywood films like It, Pet Sematary, The Green Mile, Carrie, and 1408. His fans argued that Twitter needed him rather than the other way around.

Some did not feel the same way about the writer and his contribution to the social media platform. They criticized the writer for thinking he was entitled to get paid by the platform. Here’s one offering King to take the money and stop Tweeting.

How Can Paid Verification Get Rid of Fakes?

Musk is wasting no time in making changes to the company recently acquired for 44 billion USD. Several memes have been shared on the highly active new Twitter owner. After firing top management, the world’s richest person has moved on to focus on revenue. Advertisement is the primary source of Twitter’s income which will later include the increased price of the Twitter Blue subscription. The premium service was launched in 2021, offering users features like customizing the look of the app, undoing tweets, or creating folders for Tweets in Bookmark. Currently, Twitter Blue is available only in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Right now, it is unclear if Musk’s overhaul would add more countries.

Moreover, experts have also doubted that changing the user verification process would achieve Musk’s goal of taking down the bot or fake accounts. Even if bots cannot pay, any other impersonator can pay to remain on the platform as another person. On the other hand, there is concern about Musk’s 1 billion USD worth of interest due on the 13 billion USD loan he took to finance the deal. There are nearly 400,000 verified or Blue Tick accounts on Twitter. Even if they all agree to pay 20 USD for the coveted mark, the amount will be around 8 million USD. However, if Musk succeeds in his goal to “verify all humans”, Twitter can make significant profits in future.

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A I Butthttps://pkv99.games/
The purpose of my writing is to record the same voices that are repressed by manual systems.
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