Sources: Twitter aims to charge for verification as soon as November 7, give current verified users a multi-month grace period, and make the edit button free

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 …

Bloomberg 2022-11-03

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter had already been weighing a Twitter Blue subscription tied to verification and the removal of badges from non-subscribers, turning a status signal into a recurring paid feature. The proposed grace period softens that break for existing verified accounts while the free edit button separates a product utility from the subscription.

The subsequent pause after fake verified accounts proliferated shows why the pricing change matters beyond revenue: verification was being asked to serve both as a purchasable feature and as evidence of authenticity. Twitter's later discussion of separate check marks for people, companies, and governments points to a more segmented authentication system.

First-order effects

Current verified users retain their badges temporarily, while new applicants face a paid route to the blue check; Twitter Blue becomes the immediate vehicle for that change.
Twitter makes editing available without a subscription, preserving a broadly useful posting feature outside the paid verification offer.

Second-order effects

A paid blue badge weakens its use as a standalone authenticity cue, forcing Twitter to add or emphasize other account-authentication signals when impersonation risks emerge.
Creators, businesses, and public institutions must distinguish whether they are paying for subscription access or receiving identity authentication, increasing pressure on Twitter to explain the difference.

Third-order effects

If Twitter maintains separate paid and authenticated account signals, verification shifts from a single elite-status badge toward a tiered identity system organized by account type and trust requirements.
The episode places platform monetization and provenance in tension: selling visible status features requires stronger mechanisms to preserve confidence in who is behind an account.

The trend: Social platforms are increasingly unbundling premium features from identity assurance, making provenance a distinct product and policy layer.

Discussion

@davidsacks David Sacks on x
The entitled elite is not mad that they have to pay $8/month. They're mad that anyone can pay $8/month.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@AOC Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8
@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan
@maxboot @maxboot on x
Elon and his friends seem to think that abusing their customers until they pay up is an effective marketing strategy. We'll see if they're right. https://twitter.com/...
@robertkazinsky Rob Kazinsky on x
Years ago, before verified accounts were a thing, back when I was on Eastenders, I was contacted multiple times by parents of children who had been “conversing” with me online. 11-15 year old children that had been talking with a fake me. I was informed one of these children-
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
https://twitter.com/...
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
The “if twitter's so bad, why are you still here” comments are funny, because that's not how it work. It was never how it worked. If you don't like your landlord you don't throw your keys in the trash and go live on the street. 1/2
@oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x
Is there a reason why can't there be a premium Twitter product AND a separate verification process?
@sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x
Besides cutting half the workforce Friday, Musk plans to start charging for verification on Monday: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@williamshatner William Shatner on x
I think the $8 is to submit a complaint.😉 To answer your question if I would pay for a blue check? No. I don't need to pay for false status when I have real. Elon possibly thinks people would. Knowing the delicate egos of people online; he's probably right. #noblueisbetter https:…
@halomancer1 @halomancer1 on x
https://twitter.com/...
@hashtaggriswold Alex Griswold on x
The $8 verification might be the worst mistake Elon ever made. That's legally a contract, which means it falls under government regulation, which means the First Amendment applies. That's why you can't yell fire after buying a movie ticket.
@felixsalmon Felix Salmon on x
2 questions: (1) What's the realistic lifetime value, to Twitter, of a person who decides to start paying $8/mo for a blue checkmark? Feel free to include future price hikes/reductions in your calculations. (2) What does @jason think the answer to (1) is?
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
A $99 annual plan for Twitter Blue! Everyone gets the edit button for free! And that all-hands meeting is canceled! All the latest from inside Twitter's regime change in today's @platformer for subscribers ➡️ https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@prchovanec Patrick Chovanec on x
The issue isn't whether $96/year is a lot of money. The issue is what you get for that money. If it's a lot of trolling and harassment from a circus troupe of randos, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay a dime. That's not about free speech, it's how I choose to use my time and money.
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
False populism is a scourge of our age. The blue check obsession is ridiculous. Yes it apportions a minor degree of privilege on this dumb site, but nothing substantive and it's embarrassing to obsess over it. Many blue checks are not conventional “elites.” I make $50k/year.
@arr @arr on x
The hilarious tragedy of Elon Musk is he really wants to post but he can't. The man can't post. It's not in his blood and it never will be. He can spend all the money in the world and he'll never be a poster. The real ones know exactly what I mean.
@saylor Michael Saylor⚡️ on x
If you don't pay for the product, you are the product.
@simonstalenhag Simon Stålenhag on x
How do I get unverified? I want that blue thing gone. I'm getting exceedingly uncomfortable having a symbol next to my name that suggests I'm paying money for a chance to get likes on twitter.
@neontaster Noam Blum on x
Newsroom complaints that the company doesn't verify them will be my favorite part of this entire ordeal. https://twitter.com/...
@joshuaphilll @joshuaphilll on x
Not exactly thrilled at Elon Musk tanking this platform, but I do think he's doing the world a service by showing us that “genius entrepreneurs” are often silly spoiled children who got where they are from daddy's money, government subsidies, and conning people.
@rightwingcope @rightwingcope on x
More like this: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
Social media conversion rate is low (if you post a link maybe 0.1% of your followers will click. If you say follow me on <platform>, maybe 0.1% of that 0.1% will). All big accounts know this. The celebs deleting their profiles are making politcal statements (at personal cost) 2/3
@malwaretechblog Marcus Hutchins on x
Most accounts won't do this. They will stay past the very end as they shift their followers over to a new platform. The worse things get, the higher the conversion rate. You'll only realize people are actually leaving when the platform is a graveyard of inactive accounts. 3/3
@robleathern Rob Leathern on x
The strategy here seems like a pretty decent one actually. The main goal is probably not revenue for now, but moving to verified identity for a larger % of users while they scale ability to handle it. My team built IDV at FB and it is a huge pain in the ass when for n>1 countries…
@keffals @keffals on x
elon musk is the kinkiest freak of all time. no one in human history has paid 44 billion dollars to get bullied before https://twitter.com/...
@julian_epp Jules on x
Looks like Twitter is changing the verification symbol too. Google “Elon Musk emerald” for more info https://twitter.com/...
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
Pay us $8 a month and we'll use it to expose war crimes and take down spies, not pay off scarily large bank loans. https://twitter.com/...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
A possible sneak peek of what the new verification badge might look like? Left is how it looks on the public Twitter app (blue check only). Right is how it looks like on Twitter's internal app ("official account") https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@steventdennis Steven Dennis on x
The election is Tuesday. https://twitter.com/...
@hkesvani @hkesvani on x
Elon's $8 verification plan is stupid even by its own logic. His fanboys hate the media people who got them by default back in 2015 because & also want to go back to forums where they were the power users with reputations - something his plan also rejects
@cobie @cobie on x
Blue tick $8/month. Customizable tick (eg. green for climate, rainbow for pride, orange for bitcoin cult etc) $12/month. Golden tick $500/month and you get to go to Elon's new chocolate factory once per year
@hsajwanization @hsajwanization on x
One of the reasons that @elonmusk wants to charge for the blue checkmark is to blowout all these bots, fake, and “keyboard warrior” accounts.
@matt_levine Matt Levine on x
it reminds me of when bloomberg put up a paywall and people tweeted “i like reading matt levine but not enough to pay,” which made me really mad. think how much more of it he's getting.
@johncoogan John Coogan on x
if Twitter starts charging $8 per month, Apple is going to take $2.40 of that. very interested to see if Elon tries to find a way around that. he's never been hit with the Apple tax before.
@erikvoorhees Erik Voorhees on x
Let's remember that @elonmusk charging $8 for premium Twitter experience means Twitter becomes the product again, instead of you. And if $8 is too much, you're free to remain as the product.
@q_review Quinton Reviews🎬 on x
So, in theory, it would be extremely easy for any user to make an account called “Italian Elon Musk,” pay $8 for verification, and then just post whatever they want https://twitter.com/...
@thehowie @thehowie on x
“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...” This will mitigate the concerns about stigma. First smart move I have seen. Now curious to see who WANTS verification. https://t…
@mepfuller Matt Fuller on x
If Elon Musk just tweets a few more times about how all the “blue checks"should want to pay $8 a month for the honor of having a blue check next to their names, I'm sure everyone will suddenly recognize the value.
@timcast Tim Pool on x
I'll spend 8$ after Elon frees the political prisoners and releases documents on the DHS collusion with Twitter to control and suppress information Considering he's already working with “New Knowledge” I really doubt he will do anything
@caitiedelaney Caitie Delaney on x
Yeah that was so crazy when Starbucks was always free and then they suddenly started charging $8 for it https://twitter.com/...
@mnateshyamalan @mnateshyamalan on x
if we all pay $8 for a checkmark and change our names to Elon Musk, im confident we can jeremy renner app this shit to death in a month
@atrupar Aaron Rupar on x
ELON MUSK: Hell yeah I overpaid for Twitter, I'm the richest man in the world so whatevs ELON MUSK 1 WEEK LATER: Give me $8 please my family is dying
@matt_levine Matt Levine on x
i was not expecting this to end with the world's richest man spending all day on twitter begging people for $8 but it's extremely funny? https://twitter.com/...
@dancow @dancow on x
As this article says, @verge reported how Twitter dropped its plan to monetize porn after they realized how bad they were at detecting child porn Seeing how Elon's “solution” to stop bots is an $8/month sub, seems like he isn't bringing in better AI for content analysis https://t…
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
This app is just gonna be broken all next week as an election is going on. https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp @martinsfp on x
Next week = Chaos and confusion inside Twitter as the entire org chart is rewritten and a high-profile new paid offering is launched after just one week of development time... all during the Midterms. this-is-fine dot gif https://twitter.com/...
@gcluley Graham Cluley on x
I'm sure this unswerving loyalty to duty and devotion to Elon Musk will be rewarded handsomely... https://www.theverge.com/...
@cushbomb Matt Christman on x
$8 a month is a steal! I've been paying Elon Musk $50 a month already just to support his general endeavors.
@junlper Transgender Marx on x
honestly pretty funny that elon is just scattershot posting prices of other things and being like “hmm you pay that for this why not $8 for verification” he just simply does not understand why people do not like his plan lol

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