Reports: Musk’s Twitter to Charge Monthly Fee for Verification

Facts

• According to internal Twitter correspondence, the company under new owner Elon Musk is reportedly considering transitioning its $ 4.99-a-month Twitter Blue subscription plan to a more expensive subscription that would allow verified users to retain their blue checkmark.
• Musk reportedly gave his employees a Nov. 7 deadline to create the new paid verification shortly after completing his $44B purchase of the company last week. The new plan could cost $19.99 a month, and users would have 90 days to join or lose their checkmark.
• Twitter Blue was launched a year ago to offer subscribers access to ad-free articles and other personalized settings. Musk has said in the past he wants Twitter, which relies heavily on ads, to grow its subscriber base to account for as much as half of its revenue.
• The blue checkmark is both a status symbol for users and a way for the company and other users to ensure the verified identity of the user. Charging for a checkmark, however, could make it more difficult to determine the legitimacy of an account.
• Twitter has a long way to go financially even if Musk implements the subscription service, which would amount to less than one-tenth of the $1B in interest Musk has to pay on his loans to purchase the company.
• Pursuing a subscription service has been one of the numerous things to happen at Twitter since the conclusion of Musk’s purchase. With rumors of incoming staff cuts, Musk already fired the company's top executives. His ultimatum also includes the threat of being fired.

Sources: Verge, New York Post, CNN, and Guardian.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Business Insider. In order to survive and thrive, Twitter has to become less reliant on ads, and a subscription service would be an excellent revenue source. Despite initial backlash from some of the site’s bigger users, a paid-subscription model could bolster Twitter Blue’s popularity because there would be clear requirements for getting a blue checkmark, thus making it more widely available.
• Narrative B, as provided by TechCrunch. If Musk goes through with this plan, it’ll contradict everything he has said in the past about wanting to eliminate all bots and fake accounts. The blue checkmark is the ultimate means of determining real from fake information, but misinformation will spread like wildfire if Twitter can’t get everyone to pay for their verification.