Twitter May Soon Charge For Verification Even If You Already Have The Blue Tick

It’s been less than a week since Elon Musk declared himself ‘Chief Twit’, but rapid changes are already taking place within the social media platform, with the billionaire dissolving its board of directors, and penning an open letter in hopes of wooing advertisers. 

Now, new reports have emerged that verified users on the application—profiles bearing the sought-after blue checkmark—could soon be charged a monthly fee of US$19.99 to keep the privilege. 

According to internal documents seen by CNN, it appears existing users may have the coveted blue tick removed if they don’t agree to pay the subscription fee within 90 days. It’s unclear if verified businesses, organizations, or charities will be subject to the same price. 

In addition, Twitter Blue, a subscription-based version of the network that costs US$4.99 a month,  could be repriced to US$19.99 per month to include the pay-for-verification feature; and will initially only be open to the four countries the premium service is currently available in. 

Currently, Twitter only grants verification to accounts deemed “authentic, notable, and active,” though that could change once users are allowed to pay to be verified. 

Will the forthcoming feature make it more difficult to distinguish the real accounts from the bots, or will it allow a more diverse range of voices to be highlighted? Users old and new will have to wait and see. 

The whole verification process is being revamped right now

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2022

[via Mashable and CNN, cover image via Vladyslav Yushynov | Dreamstime.com]