New Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed the social media platform’s verified tick system will cost $8 a month after he was spotted leaving his mother’s New York City apartment following Heidi Klum’s Halloween party .
Musk, who also serves as CEO of Space X, was spotted wearing his “Occupy Mars” t-shirt as he left his mother’s house to head to Twitter headquarters on the second day of his $44 billion acquisition to go in New York City.
Making the rounds at his new company, Musk explained his plan for Twitter’s verified system on the social media platform itself.
“Twitter’s current Lords & Peasants system of who has a blue tick or not is bullshit,” the new Chief Twit wrote. ‘Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”
A blue tick allows other Twitter users to verify that other users are who they say they are.
Musk added that those who sign up for the system get “priority on replies, mentions and searches, which is essential for fighting spam/scams, the ability to post lengthy videos and audio, half as many ads and bypassing the paywall for willing publishers to work with us.’
The world’s richest man had previously considered a $20-per-month Blue Tick verification fee, but appeared to lower the cost following criticism from horror author Stephen King.
New Twitter CEO Elon Musk was pictured leaving his mother’s New York City home to head back to Twitter’s New York office
It was Chief Twit’s second visit this week following his $44 billion acquisition
During his journey, Musk confirmed on Twitter that access to his verified program is no longer free, but costs $8 per month
The decision came after backlash over his plans to raise the subscription fee, with celebrities including horror author Stephen King among vocal critics of a previously proposed $20-a-month fee
Pictured: Musk follows his security detail Tuesday as he enters the back of Twitter’s NYC headquarters
Musk, dressed in red samurai armor, showed up at Heidi Klum’s 21st annual Halloween party at the Moxy Hotel on Monday
Musk wants to make good on his promise to make the social media platform profitable by introducing a fee for Twitter users who want to keep their verification badge.
However, his plan of reportedly charging $20 a month seemed to displease King, who tweeted, “$20 a month to keep my blue check? Screw it, they should pay me,” wrote King, who has 6.9 million followers. “If that’s rolled out, I’ll be gone like Enron.”
Musk replied: “We’ve got to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers.
“How about $8,” he asked, which appears to be the price he’s settled on.
King isn’t the only Twitter user with blue ticks to threaten to drop his blue ticks if a fee is levied against the platform.
Author Stephen King said he would quit Twitter if Musk brought in a $20 monthly fee so he could keep his blue check
Author Stephen King, who wrote The Shining, said he will exit the platform if Musk introduces a blue tick verification fee
Musk appeared to be haggling with the horror author and suggested the $8 price, which he ultimately settled on
Musk leaves his mother’s home in New York City wearing a t-shirt that reads “Occupy Mars” while walking with his security detail
Actress, author and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn’t pay, tweeting, “Musk can walk away with his idea of charging blue tickers. I give everything for this hell site for FREE.
“Naughty b**** should pay ME,” she added. ‘Don’t need the poxy thing anyway.’
Celebrities who have threatened to boycott the site include TV screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, actress Mia Farrow and Madam Secretary star Téa Leoni, She Hulk actress Jameela Jamil, and authors and activists Shaun King and Amy Siskind.
George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, also said he would consider walking towards the digital door.
Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis released a poll Monday asking people if they would pay $5, $10, $15 a month, or nothing, for verification. Around 81 percent said they would not pay on Tuesday.
“Interesting,” Musk replied to the poll.
Often bestowed on celebrities, politicians, business leaders and journalists, critics have derided the sign as an elite status symbol.
But Twitter also uses the blue tick to verify activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the world, as an additional tool to curb misinformation stemming from accounts that themselves pass off as people.
English actress, writer and comedian Kathy Burke also said she would not pay if there was a fee for the platform
Musk appears to have taken Monday’s criticism to heart when he decided to lower the proposed Blue Mark cost following his trip to Klum’s premier Halloween party.
The world’s richest man arrived at the party in a red samurai suit as reports surfaced that he was preparing to cut nearly 2,000 Twitter jobs, which make up about 25 percent of his workforce.
Musk looked triumphant as he posed on the red carpet in his armor, with his street clothes still visible underneath. It’s not clear how Musk was supposed to be dressed for Klum’s celebration
According to the website of high-end Abracadabra NYC costume store, Musk’s outfit is the Devil’s Champion leather armor set, which retails for $7,500. At the time of writing, the website states that there is only one costume left in stock.
The billionaire’s mother, Maye, was also present at the party and at Twitter’s offices on West 17th Street.
Musk arrives with his mother Maye at Klum’s annual party in New York’s Lower East Side
It’s not clear how Musk was supposed to be dressed for Klum’s celebration
Twitter restricts some content moderation tools just days before the midterms
Days after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and just ahead of the Midterms in America, the social media site has curtailed some content moderation tools.
It can affect employees’ ability to stop misinformation since they cannot manually modify or penalize accounts.
The change is Musk’s last and comes after he made significant staff cuts and fired the Twitter board, making him the sole member.
Those who work in Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization can’t currently change or penalize accounts that violate the platform’s rules on misleading information, offensive posts, and hate speech.
According to Bloomberg, insiders say they can only punish people who post in violation of Twitter rules to the extent of the real damage.
They added that the team is manually enforcing these posts.
The change is the last change Musk implemented, pictured at Twitter HQ, and comes after he made significant staff cuts and fired the Twitter board, making him the sole member
At Twitter, employees have dashboards called agent tools to suspend or ban accounts that have violated policies.
Policy violations can be automatically detected or reported by other Twitter users.
However, only Twitter staff can remove or suspend accounts using the dashboard.
But according to insiders, the tools have been out of service since last week.
It is claimed that this restriction was put in place when Musk took ownership of Twitter to prevent employees from requesting changes to the app.
Company sources, who asked to remain anonymous, revealed that the high level of access to the tools provided to employees has dropped from hundreds to just 15.