Over the span of almost $3 billion USD, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from giving Twitter founder Jack Dorsey suggestions about the platform on a video call to becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder and joining the social media company’s board of directors.
In a series of Saturday evening tweets, Musk put forth the idea of giving an authentication checkmark to every Twitter user who pays $3.49 CAD ($2.99 USD) for a Twitter Blue subscription.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1512957577092608004
The authentication checkmark “should be different from ‘public figure’ or ‘official account’ checkmark,” the Tesla CEO clarified in a follow-up tweet. Musk’s original tweet has amassed over 220,000 likes so far.
Twitter Blue is a premium subscription service that removes ads from the platform and, through Twitter Blue Labs, gives subscribers access to features that are otherwise not available on the free version of Twitter, including a 20-second window to edit freshly published tweets.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1512962115270754306
The subscription launched in the U.S. in November 2021, but it has been available in Canada since June.
Twitter on Friday announced an Ask Me Anything (AMA) event with Musk to address employee concerns regarding the decision to appoint him to the company’s board of directors.
The social media giant suddenly started talking publicly about an ‘edit’ button for tweets after Musk tweeted a poll asking if Twitter should add an edit button. Other social media networks have long implemented an “edit” feature, but not Twitter.
Musk has been chiding Twitter and its staff for not doing enough at the company. He also launched a poll with the idea to “convert Twitter San Francisco headquarters to homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway”.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1512966135423066116
What do you think about an authentication checkmark for Twitter Blue subscribers? What other features would you like to see Musk bring to Twitter? Let us know in the comments.
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So he wants to sell check marks rather than users properly being verified?
Well, it would be part of the Twitter Blue package, not a separate thing. It’s not clear at this time what verification would be required, if any. It remains to be seen.
Well yea…. News just broke.
I’m interested to see
Twitter is shock full of nameless, faceless, trolls and bots – that is the reason I do not use it. Put a face on every user, free speech is important, but so is consequences to your own actions (speech). Social media is becoming a fake society.
Yes pls – this!!