How about $8? Elon Musk Replies to Stephen King’s Criticism of Twitter’s $20-Per Month Fee

By Tech News Desk
November 1, 2022
Last Updated: November 1, 2022

Business & Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Growth, Technology & AI

Elon Musk, who recently bought the microblogging site for $44 billion, replied to a tweet by best-selling author Stephen King in which he was upset about the expected fee for a verified badge. In the tweet, King said that he didn’t like the idea of having to pay for a badge that showed he was a real person.

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There have been rumors that Twitter may soon start charging verified users a monthly fee for the blue checkmarks on their handles. Mr. King said, “$20 per month to keep my blue check? F*ck that, they should pay me. If that gets passed, I’ll be gone like Enron.”

$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022

There is a lot of talk about how much the monthly fee will be. Some say it will be around $5, while others say it could be as high as $20. When the author talks about Enron in her tweet, she is talking about how the big US company fell after years of rapid growth.

Mr. Musk said, in response to Mr. King’s tweet, “We have to find a way to pay the bills! Twitter can’t depend on advertisers alone. How about $8?”

We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

The CEO of Tesla changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit,” but he has since changed it to “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator.” He also said that he will explain why he wants to charge a fee before that happens. He also said it was “the only way to beat bots and trolls.”

I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

There has been a lot of talk about the fee for a verified badge, which has sparked a heated debate. Some people say it’s not worth paying for a blue tick, while others say there’s nothing wrong with charging people for the blue tick.

Musk has said that the process for verifying accounts is being changed. This is because of what happened when he tried to take over Twitter, which was a very dramatic story that went all the way to court. He did not add any details.

The report says that if the project goes forward, users would have to pay $4.99 a month for Twitter Blue or lose their “verified” badges.

The CEO of Tesla Inc hasn’t made a final decision, and the project could still be scrapped, but Platformer says it’s likely that verification will be added to Twitter Blue.

Twitter Blue, the platform’s first subscription service, was released in June of last year. It gives users “exclusive access to premium features,” such as the ability to edit tweets, for a monthly fee.