Twitter Inc. aims to start selling blue verification badges for user profiles as soon as next week, part of a plan by new owner Elon Musk to fight fake accounts and squeeze revenue from the company he bought for $44 billion.
The badges will be part of an $8-a-month subscription that could go live as early as Monday, according to people familiar with the plans.
Users who already have a blue verification badge will have a multi-month grace period before they will either need to pay for the badge or lose it, said one of the people, who requested anonymity discussing plans that aren’t public.
The company also plans to expand access to its edit function.
The edit feature, currently available to so-called Twitter Blue users who pay $4.99 a month, will be opened to the rest of users for free, one of the people said.
That change could be implemented as soon as this week, the person said.
Billionaire Musk and a close cadre of advisers are considering a host of changes to the way Twitter is run and makes money, and it’s possible that the timing for the subscriptions and edit-button rollout could change, the people said.
A Twitter representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8,” Musk replied.
Twitter will allow government accounts to stay verified, as well as those in regions where Twitter cannot charge payment, one person said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier Wednesday that the president and his administration had not yet considered whether it would pay to retain verification.
Source: My Broadband
