Twitter will increase the price of its Blue subscription service, according to the platform’s owner and CEO Elon Musk. The new price reflects a $3 USD jump from its previous $5 USD price point, marking a 60% increase.
“Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bulls***,” Musk wrote on the platform, confirming that verification would be incorporated into the updated subscription tier. “Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
With the price increase, Twitter intends to expand the subscription’s perks. In the update, subscribers will receive priority in replies, mentions and searches, in an effort to minimize spam. They will also have the ability to post long videos and audio, and they will experience half as many ads. Lastly, Twitter Blue will grant users the ability to bypass paywalls, though that feature will launch at a later date.
Musk detailed that the price will be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity.” Additionally, he said that the higher price point will provide Twitter with a revenue stream to “reward content creators.”
The announcement follows days of speculation on how Musk would change Twitter. Earlier this week, Musk said that he wanted to charge $19.99 USD for the updated subscription and make it a requirement for verification on the app. He later adjusted the pricepoint following widespread criticism, tweeting, “We need to pay the bills somehow. Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”
In his first week as “Chief Twit,” Musk is moving quickly in altering the platform. He previously changed Twitter’s homepage for logged-out users, and he is also planning mass layoffs, specifically for middle managers and engineers at the company.
Musk did not disclose when the Twitter Blue update would go into effect.
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