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Twitter Blue: World’s richest man (Elon Musk) begs Stephen King for $8
Looks as though we have Stephen King to thank for the verification fee being reduced from $20 to $8...
Elon Musk (L) and Stephen King (R). Photos: AFP/Suzanne Cordeiro. Right: EPA/Michael Reynolds
As the Twitter Verification saga continues to either delight or infuriate netizens from across the globe, Elon Musk quietly (or not so) begged Stephen King to remain on the platform.
This after scores of verified users vowed they would never pay for the coveted blue tick – the world-renowned author and undisputed King of Horror, Stephen King, among them.
Twitter Verification updates
Elon Musk’s new rules
Everything leading up to this point had been long and tedious, you can read more about it here. In short, Musk said the verification process needs to be revamped.
He then said the blue tick would be tied to a Twitter Blue account, of which the proposed fee initially was said to be $20.
After begging Stephen King to stay on Twitter for a reduced fee (more on that in a bit), the price was initially announced as $8 per month.
Musk tweeted: “Power to the people! Blue for $8/month”. He also said the pricing would be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity”.
Stephen King ‘gone like Enron’
Shortly after the announcement, King tweeted: “$20 a month to keep my blue check? [Expletive] that, they should pay me”.
King added: “If that [the verification fee] gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron”.
Kings’ tweet landed on Musk’s radar, who said Twitter must “pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers”.
Instead of leaving it there, Musk attempted to negotiate with King: “How about $8?”. Musk also said he would “explain the rationale before this is implemented.
In short, though, Musk said “It is the only way to defeat the bots and trolls”. Kudos to King and his tweet because the price has now been adjusted from $20 to $8.
ALSO READ: Elon Musk fires Twitter board, becomes sole director
What do you get for $8?
It’s all just hearsay at this stage but the revamped Twitter Blue package would also include expanded video abilities, as well as priority mentions and replies.
Musk said it could also include a “paywall bypass” for certain publishers.
Even though it would include fewer ads, Musk still intends on expanding the ads package, because he believes ads are “content” [insert eye-roll emoji here].
ALSO READ: ‘I bought Twitter to help humanity’, says Musk while passing ads as content
Real-world impact of the Twitter verification
Serious questions remain, however. If the verification badge is a free-for-anyone who could afford Twitter Blue at $8, how would, say, journalists be protected?
Not to mention that Twitter Blue is only available in some countries; none of those countries are in Africa.
Award-winning Zimbabwean journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, explained it succinctly:
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