A new version of Twitter Blue with some form of authentication will be available for $8 per month in the US, with prices “adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity,” according to Elon Musk.

He declared, “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit” when announcing the changes to the premium service.

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Also as per Musk, using the service will get you:

– Priority in answers, mentions, and searches is “essential to defeat spam/scam,” according to Musk.

– Possibility to upload lengthy videos and sounds

– fewer adverts by half

– Additionally, “paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us”

– Anyone could hire a verified check with priority status for their tweets

Musk added in a subsequent tweet, “There will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.”

Up until this time, Twitter Blue was a wholly distinct service that was unrelated to verification. Its key features included the option to view articles without advertisements, undo or modify tweets (in some countries), and customise your navigation bar. It cost $4.99 per month.

You can also use an NFT as your profile photo. However, as of Tuesday, the ad-free articles section has been eliminated. Considering Musk’s desire to allow Blue subscribers to get around paywalls, it appears that he wants to collaborate in some way with publishers.

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Musk has made it plain that he wants Twitter to rely less on advertising and more on subscriptions going forward. Reports suggested that a plan to charge $20 per month for verification was considered internally as recently as this past weekend. Employees would have had about a week to implement the move.

The in-app documentation for Blue now refers to the previous pricing and feature set; however, Musk has not yet specified when these changes will take effect. Musk also claims that Blue will provide the business with “a revenue stream to reward content creators,” although he hasn’t provided any information on what such awards might actually entail.

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Also unknown is the verification system’s operation. In the past, it has only been accessible to a small group of prominent users who may be impersonated, either as a prank or to disseminate false information. Musk has stated that he wants to use the system to limit bot spam, though.

In a response to author Stephen King, who had complained about the rumoured $20 monthly charge, Musk had made a hint at the $8 price. “We need to pay the bills somehow!” Musk wrote early on Tuesday. “Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”