Musk outlines Twitter premium subscription plan for $8 a month

Elon Musk has mentioned Twitter will provide a premium subscription service for $8 a month that can confirm customers, enhance the visibility of their posts and permit them to see fewer ads, in his first step in the direction of overhauling the product since he took the reins on the firm final week.

Earlier than Musk’s $44bn acquisition of the social media group, which closed final week, customers might pay $4.99 a month to subscribe to Twitter Blue, giving them entry to unique options together with an edit button.

The world’s richest man on Tuesday mentioned in a Twitter thread that he now wished to supply “Blue for $8/month”. This may give subscribers “precedence in replies, mentions & search”, which he mentioned was “important to defeat spam/rip-off”. It could additionally give customers the flexibility to put up longer video and audio clips, and think about “half as many adverts”, he mentioned.

Musk has additionally indicated he’ll overhaul the system of verification — whereby solely high-profile celebrities, politicians and journalists are given a “blue tick” subsequent to their username without cost — to increase it to Twitter Blue subscribers.

“Twitter’s present lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit,” he mentioned, including: “Energy to the individuals!”

The renewed push into subscription revenues comes as Twitter faces rising issues from advertisers, which account for almost all of the corporate’s revenues. Many manufacturers are weighing whether or not to pause spending given his plans to row again content material moderation, based on trade executives.

The International Alliance for Accountable Media (GARM), a advertising and marketing trade group, on Monday warned Musk that maintaining the platform freed from inappropriate materials was “non-negotiable”.

The shake-up can be Musk’s first main change to Twitter’s enterprise mannequin and product since he took management of the corporate. The billionaire has moved rapidly to make his mark on the platform, and has hinted at quite a few new product options in tweets over the weekend.

Musk had ordered workers to work “24/7” to ship on his new imaginative and prescient for Twitter verification. One individual accustomed to his considering mentioned a number of pricing choices had been mentioned previously, together with $9.99 and $14.99 a month.

Musk on Tuesday replied to issues from writer Stephen King about media reviews that it will value $19.99, writing: “We have to pay the payments in some way! Twitter can’t rely fully on advertisers. How about $8?”

Those that enroll would additionally be capable of bypass the paywall for information articles for publishers that determine to work with Twitter, Musk mentioned. “This may even give Twitter a income stream to reward content material creators,” he mentioned.

He added that the worth can be “adjusted by nation proportionate to buying energy parity”, with out clarifying additional.