Elon Musk Says Twitter Blue Subscribers ‘Should Get an Authentication Checkmark’

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.

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.

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”.

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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