Elon Musk offered new, but limited, details on Twitter's potential new verification system on Tuesday.
Musk, who completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter last week, tweeted that Twitter's "current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullshit." He added, "Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."
Musk is referring to Twitter Blue, the platform's subscription model that gets members exclusive benefits. Musk aims to completely overhaul it, and make the verification system that gets people their blue check marks a part of the subscription.
In other words, people who want to be verified on Twitter may have to pay $8 a month to keep their checkmark if the plan is implemented. The plan could open the doors for impersonators of elected officials, journalists, and other public figures, and lead to more widespread misinformation.
Musk said in follow up tweets that the new Twitter Blue would also get subscribers:
- "Priority in replies, mentions and search," which he said is "essential to defeat spam/scam."
- "The ability to post long video & audio."
- "Half as many ads."
- "Paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us."
Musk also said the subscriptions would "give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators," but offered no details on what that would look like.
Musk's tweets followed a Sunday report from Verge that said he was planning a $20 monthly subscription fee for Blue. The reported plan drew plenty of scrutiny, including from author Stephen King, who said he would leave the platform and that Twitter "should pay me."
Musk responded to King's tweet on Tuesday, saying "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?
Musk has been quick to put his mark on Twitter; he immediately fired several top execs, including CEO Parag Agrawal, and ousted the nine-person board. The Washington Post reported that Musk is planning to layoff 25% of Twitter's workforce.
Musk also wants to bring back Vine, the short-form video app that Twitter shut down in 2016. Insider confirmed on Monday that Musk directed Twitter engineers to work on a relaunch.
