Elon Musk took an unusual decision for Twitter, which was to display a "blue tick" or verified status for a monthly fee of USD 8 .
This move according to Brandon Borrman, a former Twitter employee who used to be global communications head, as a strange move. The reason is, if this monthly fee could have a big impact on Twitter's income, it would have been done a long time ago.
"If this paid blue tick is the fairest way to do it (increase revenue), I think Twitter has done it a long time ago," said Borrman, as quoted by the BBC, Monday (7/11/2022).
He also questioned how he could explain this step, namely asking people to pay in order to have the same "position" as other users on Twitter.
"This is great for people who have money and are willing to pay a certain fee to have their voice heard. $8 seems like a small amount of money to many people -- but quite significant to most people around the world," he added.
Under Musk's leadership, Twitter had to cut infrastructure costs and expenses by laying off many of its employees. The number is estimated to reach 50% of the total Twitter employees.
In addition, Musk also charges a subscription fee for blue tick account owners, which is USD 8 .
Twitter says other benefits of the $8-a-month bill also include getting 'half the ad', being able to upload longer videos, and priority ranking for quality content.
Elon Musk's new rules regarding blue tick account fees have been criticized by many. So far, as quoted by us from The Verge, Twitter users who want to get a blue tick are also never charged. They simply fill out the form provided, provide complementary documents, and wait for confirmation from Twitter.
Previously, Musk stated that the price he set was a new subscription fee for Twitter Blue, a premium service that provides exclusive features for its subscribers. Musk said the new verification system was created so as not to discriminate against Twitter users.
