It’s the start of a new era at Twitter, as blue verification check marks must now be bought, after CEO Elon Musk announced the change months ago in order to boost revenue. With the change now in effect, anyone with a blue check mark is either paying for it or had it gifted to them by Musk – seriously.
Twitter reportedly reached out to LeBron James via email after the NBA star said he wouldn’t pay for the verification, offering him a complimentary subscription.
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“[We want to] extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk,” the email read, The Verge confirms.
Elon has confirmed that he plans to pay for several accounts personally, but hasn’t elaborated on how or why he’s choosing who to offer the complimentary verification to. In addition to LeBron’s verification, the billionaire is also reportedly paying for Stephen King and William Shatner, who were apparently reached out to in a similar fashion.
A post shared by elonmusk (@elonmusk)
Although only a few celebrities are receiving complimentary verification a la Elon Musk, there are others who are choosing to pay in order to keep the blue check mark.
According to Mashable, celebrities who appear to be paying for the verification, as they still have blue check marks include:
- Rihanna
- Taylor Swift
- Miley Cyrus
- Britney Spears
- The Weeknd
- Joe Jonas
- Nick Jonas
- Cardi B
- Chance the Rapper
- Coldplay
- David Guetta
- Shawn Mendes
- Snoop Dogg
- Jimmy Fallon
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Khloe Kardashian
- Jake Paul
- Logan Paul
Now, users will have to pay $8 per month to have the blue check mark next to their name. It will no longer signify that an account is authentic, as it used to.
In March, it was reported that Twitter had lost half its value since Elon bought the business in November for $44 billion. According to the New York Times, the social platform is now valued at only $20 billion.
Elon has introduced a variety of cost-savings measures since taking over in addition to the new subscription feature. He’s also laid off a significant amount of staff, and sold a plethora of old Twitter memorabilia.
The Tesla founder has said Twitter would’ve gone bankrupt already if it wasn’t for him. In November, shortly after taking over, he said the company was losing $4 million per day.
“Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” he tweeted.
With only a handful of people subscribing to the new verification service (compared to how many blue check mark accounts used to exist on Twitter), it remains to be seen if Elon’s attempts at making the platform more profitable succeed.
Sources: The Verge, Mashable,
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