Author: Amedeo Hasson

Elon Musk’s recent acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 sent shockwaves throughout the universe of the 5.6% of people worldwide that use it, and a series of changes have already been implemented to do what he believes will make the company profitable. The CEO and CFO were quickly axed, as well as a slew of other top executives, and they are also considering adding an OnlyFans-esque section. Arguably the most impactful change, however, is the new blue checkmark verification model, which could be implemented this coming week.

This updated model revamps the way blue checkmarks are distributed to Twitter users by providing them to users who pay an $8 per month subscription coupled with other benefits such as reduced ads and priority status in search and replies. Gone is the old model that distributed the blue checkmarks to the select few who fit the company’s secret criteria for holding the great blue status symbol. Twitter is not currently a profitable company and this simple move to improve the company’s financial standing, which does not hinder the unpaid user, has the current blue checkmarks up in arms.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan.”

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Conor Sen tweeted: “A guy worth $200 billion begging celebrities to pay $8/month for a blue checkmark is my favorite part of week one,” and the co-creator of Mortal Kombat tweeted: “This is so outrageous that I have a problem believing it…”

This will usher in a new era of Twitter where the verified badge will mean even less than it currently does. If they are this concerned about the changes because they believe it limits free speech or constitutes begging, they should probably just turn the bird app off and do something else.