Sources: Elon Musk weighs adding paid DMs to let users privately message “Very Important Tweeters”; docs show Twitter Blue checks won't require ID verification

The billionaire and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages, fees to watch videos and other features to the service.

New York Times 2022-11-04

Context & Ripple Effects

Musk had previously framed Twitter Blue as a lower-priced, ad-free subscription with an authentication checkmark, and Twitter was then considering a $20 Blue tier tied to verification. The new discussions broaden the revenue plan from the subscription itself to paid access inside messaging and video.

The important distinction is that the proposed Blue check would not require identity verification. That breaks with the implication of Musk's earlier subscriber checkmark proposal: payment, rather than verified identity, would determine access to the badge.

First-order effects

Twitter Blue’s checkmark would become a paid account feature without an ID-verification gate, reducing the check’s role as evidence of a user’s identity.
Musk’s team is evaluating paid DMs to prominent users and video-viewing fees, putting private contact and media consumption alongside subscriptions as potential revenue surfaces.

Second-order effects

Users seeking a checkmark or access to high-profile accounts would face a tiered set of paid features rather than a single Blue subscription decision.
Later daily DM limits for unverified accounts show how messaging access can be managed through both restrictions and paid privileges, making DMs a more explicitly controlled product area.

Third-order effects

If payment remains detached from identity verification, platform badges shift from a trust signal toward a capability tier, requiring users and businesses to distinguish account status from authenticity.
The model points to social platforms parceling formerly standard interactions—messaging, viewing, and visibility—into separately monetized access controls.

The trend: Social platforms are moving from one broad subscription toward granular capability tiers that price access, communication, and status separately.

Discussion

@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
We saw internal docs with more insight into the new Twitter Blue: -Launch on Nov. 7 but only in current markets (US, CA, Aus, NZ) -Check marks for subscribers, no current ID authentication -Some features announced by Musk won't be ready -Euro launch soon https://www.nytimes.com/.…
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
Twitter is working on “Paid DMs”
@esthercrawford Esther Crawford on x
When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork https://twitter.com/...
@ariehkovler Arieh Kovler on x
Ohhh. This is bad. The new Twitter blue badge won't actually verify your identity at all. You just pay the money and they give you the tick. It's a scammers' charter. https://twitter.com/...
@clarajeffery Clara Jeffery on x
So “actual verification” would totally disappear. Worse, people could pay for the check mark to impersonate actual celebs, journalists, scientists, etc. https://twitter.com/...
@alexhern @alexhern on x
Oh my god if point two is true this is literally the most damaging possible outcome https://twitter.com/...
@smtuffy Sean Tuffy on x
This seems like a great way to get all the celebs off this website https://twitter.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
Inside Elon Musk's “free speech” Twitter, a culture of secrecy and fear has taken hold. Managers and employees have been muzzled, Slack channels have gone dark, and workers are turning to anonymous gossip apps to find out basic info about their jobs. https://t.co/Mn21Ko9CqM
@mikeisaac @mikeisaac on x
a few things: everything inside of twtr right now is fluid (and insane) so it's unclear what will launch the paid dms product seems like a way to give revenue to creators or celebs, like Post Malone as a mock-up example seems tough to do without annoying them but maybe opt-in
@nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on x
How galactically stupid are these guys? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tomcoates Tom Coates on x
Oh and by the way, that ‘verified’ badge that people are going to be paying for? It's not going to mean your identity has been verified at all. “Subscribers would not need their identities authenticated to get the check mark, the documents suggested.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
I kind of think the opposite — people love believing that rich people they have political disagreements with are secretly unimpressive morons, but even if Musk's Twitter investment goes to $0 he's still had a tremendous world-changing career with impressive achievements. https://…
@markharrisnyc Mark Harris on x
People love believing that the ultrarich are geniuses, but this story makes clear that Musk has no viable plan for this site, that his pro-troll position will choke off ad revenue, and that he has, largely out of vanity, put himself in a terrible position. https://www.nytimes.com…
@alexhern @alexhern on x
Elon Musk in April: “authenticate the humans! No more revenue from spam bots!” Elon Musk now: “authenticate the humans? No! More revenue from spam bots!”
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
If you were the head of product for a small startup and announced that your product strategy was “Make Money” you should be fired. It's not a product strategy and without one to inform the revenue plan, you are lost. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kennykeil Kenny Keil on x
I know a man who just WASTED 44 BILLION DOLLARS ain't telling me how to spend 8
@zackfox Zack Fox on x
we should just start a new social media site in the reviews section of Lawry's seasoned salt (16oz) on Amazon
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
Again (again) some of these revenue ideas are fine! You need an actual theory of the case to inform how they work and the discipline to find the edges and prevent destructive interference. Or you could just threaten people with their jobs to shove any old shit out the door.
@carnage4life @carnage4life on x
“When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.” - Warren Buffett foretelling the acquisition of Twitter
@whstancil Will Stancil on x
What on earth is the business logic here? This “feature” seems to be mostly for scammers. It'll bring in a pittance but could easily cause highly-publicized disasters, a body blow to Twitter as a business. It's as if his primary goal is spreading disinformation, not making money.…
@quatoria Anna Phylaxis on x
It's hard to see this as anything but an intentional assault on trust. Elon Musk is aiming to destroy the ability to verify or trust any information you get on twitter, and leave it a paradise for grifters and the right. https://twitter.com/...
@oalexanderdk Oliver Alexander on x
So the most important part of being Verified is getting removed, the actual VERIFICATION part. No ID needed, so it won't fix any of the problems Elon claimed it would. https://twitter.com/...
@catovitch @catovitch on x
So, even for those willing to pay, he is going to boost some parts of the English-speaking world over other parts? Brilliant idea, Elon. Yeah, just bury everyone else's tweets. I mean, Twitter was already but you said you were going to improve things not make them worse. Twat. ht…
@molly_knight Molly Knight on x
tell me you've never had a conversation with a woman without telling me you've never had a conversation with a woman. https://twitter.com/...
@clarajeffery Clara Jeffery on x
“Mr. Musk and his advisers have discussed adding paid direct messages — which would let users send private messages to high-profile users ” sounds like a super efficient way to get celebrities to abandon your platform! https://www.nytimes.com/...
@racheltobac Rachel Tobac on x
No identity verification, & 8 bucks for a verified account? Get ready for the new cyber criminal playbook: use stolen credit card to buy verified Twitter account, impersonate real customer support channels, trick users into handing over account details in DM, account takeover. ht…
@racheltobac Rachel Tobac on x
Want to know why this attack method works now & will work in the updated Twitter Blue scenario? Because real companies use Twitter as a customer support channel and they actually *do* ask for account details to support. When the criminals can match real world behavior, it works.
@peg_perl @peg_perl on x
So, after years of my unsuccessful attempts to be verified as actual election expert & govt employee, anyone else will be able to buy a blue check on (checks notes) the day before the election. What could go wrong? https://twitter.com/...
@dlind Dara Lind on x
Note that what Musk has publicly described as a “public figure” designation is only for government officials. The idea that “public figure” would apply to journalists—the exact class that Musk's folks think of MOST pejoratively as “blue checks”—never struck me as super plausible.…
@nikkimcr Nikki Mccann Ramírez on x
this is going live the day before the midterms, no form of identity verification just a free for all the day before millions of people turn to this website to get real time local and national election news. https://twitter.com/...
@clarajeffery Clara Jeffery on x
This strikes me as inherent blackmail, since there are a lot of people, seriously famous or otherwise (like say journos or area experts) who would be really worried about their name being hijacked for both personal reputational damage, and w/r/t spreading misinformation.
@pt Parker on x
So far this is like a caricature of an unimaginative hostile takeover by a management team looking to strip mine a business. I hope week two will be some ideas for cool new products. https://twitter.com/...
@green_footballs Charles Johnson on x
They can't keep calling it a “verification badge” if people don't even have to be verified. Maybe they should just cut to the chase and call it the asshole badge. https://twitter.com/...
@radiofreetom Tom Nichols on x
Look, if Musk just wants to break the Twitter verification system because he hates the idea that the blue checks are “elite” and therefore bad and blah blah blah, fine, it's his company. Just kind of amazed at someone willing to burn billions of dollars on status anxiety.
@ibd_ecarson Ed Carson on x
Sending private spam to top Tweeters? https://twitter.com/...
@danteatkins @danteatkins on x
If this is what actually happens, I will archive my feed and delete my account. There is absolutely no reason at all to allow impersonators to pretend to be politicians, get a check mark, and try to ruin people's reputations. https://twitter.com/...
@tomcoates Tom Coates on x
This stuff is literally why the verification badge was created - so that the public on twitter would not be confused about whether people or organizations or politicians were really who they claimed to be, and wouldn't put themselves at risk.
@grogsgamut Greg Jericho on x
“Hey how about we get people to pay for something that is currently free but first make it actually less valuable than it is now” https://twitter.com/...
@gwillowwilson G. Willow Wilson on x
No ID requirements for a blue check. Just your credit card details. https://twitter.com/...
@leahmcelrath Leah McElrath on x
So Elon Mush is planning to roll out these changes that will essentially delegitimize verified account identities on THE DAY BEFORE MIDTERM ELECTIONS. Purposeful or not, that creates a situation for bad actors to spread even more misinformation than usual at a critical time. ⚠️ h…
@modernistwitch Jes Skolnik on x
disinformation network is go https://twitter.com/...
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
Is Twitter just gonna become OnlyFans? They already have the same brand colors! https://twitter.com/...
@nameshiv @nameshiv on x
this idea is the gift that just keeps giving- you may have thought it was a shoddy, uncreative trite plan with no real rhyme or reason to it but it's actually even less well thought out than that https://twitter.com/...
@naomikritzer @naomikritzer on x
So FYI if this happens I really look forward to someone getting a blue-checked account for something like @wendys_restaurants with the Wendy's logo who just responds all day to people with posts saying “sir, this is a Wendy's.” https://twitter.com/...
@lauramlippman @lauramlippman on x
Twitter's “business” model was always dependent on users volunteering for the privilege of being eaten alive, but asking us to pay for it seems bridge too far. https://twitter.com/...
@kenbensinger Ken Bensinger on x
So basically Cameo but in reverse? I look forward to paying paying money to send a video of myself to Rudy Giuliani or the Tiger King lady? @MikeIsaac @RMac18 https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@abnerpastoll Keanu Reeves on x
Whoa https://twitter.com/...
@laurenwilliams Lauren Williams on x
Opening up blue checks to anyone with $8, with no ID verification, the day before Election Day, is a choice. https://twitter.com/...
@mattgertz Matthew Gertz on x
Soooo you'll be able to set up an account with a check mark spoofing a candidate? On Election Day? https://twitter.com/...
@matthewbevan Matt Bevan on x
Also, he wants to allow users to pay him to send DMs to famous people, thereby guaranteeing the famous people will leave the platform. So he wants to turn Twitter into Reddit, basically. https://twitter.com/...
@radiofreetom Tom Nichols on x
This is just the dumbest thing, and amounts to an 8 dollar fee for a check mark that will verify nothing except being a sucker. https://twitter.com/...
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
No ID verification and they want to launch the day before the midterms... cool, cool. https://twitter.com/...
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
You literally can't make this stuff up. Verified in name only as we all expected “Subscribers would not need their identities authenticated to get the check mark, the documents suggested.” via @MikeIsaac https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
@MikeIsaac ... “Hi Mr. Postie, can you tell me why you think Revolver was The Beatles' best studio album? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@baseballgaloot @baseballgaloot on x
So this would not only make it impossible to verify anything, it will remove any “status” a blue check has and it will just be the mark of an idiot paying 100 dollars a year to be here https://twitter.com/...
@ryanlcooper Ryan Cooper on x
“last year Twitter had less than $1 billion in cash flow, partly because of a one-time charge, meaning it generated less money than what it now owes its lenders annually. The company was also unprofitable for eight of the last 10 years.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
NEW: Elon Musk plans to eliminate ~3,700 jobs at Twitter on Friday. About half the staff. He also plans to end the “work from anywhere” policy... story w/ @EdLudlow https://twitter.com/...
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
Twitter looks set to shut down its newsletter platform and 4-month old Twitter Notes is on indefinite pause https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@niubi Bill Bishop on x
Inside Twitter's product roadmap under Musk, by @CaseyNewton https://open.substack.com/... “A new Vine camera is in. Notes and Revue are out”. Another giant throws in the towel on newsletters
@fmanjoo Farhad Manjoo on x
Can't decide if this is a ludicrous idea or a genius one https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Some Twitter news as we wait for layoffs to hit: - Its Revue newsletter product will be sunset by end of year - ‘Notes’ longform writing product is on indefinite ‘pause’ - Details on the Vine reboot Subscribe to read ➡️ https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x
@CaseyNewton WHOA! casey did they notify all the Revue users yet???? . . . or are they planning on making those 12 phone calls over the coming weeks
@martinsfp @martinsfp on x
Looks like we left Revue just in time, @MattNavarra - it's closing down by the end of the year, along with the new Notes feature 😬 https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@mcwm Mike Murphy on x
aw man I'm sorry to my 102 subscribers https://twitter.com/...
@ryneismean @ryneismean on x
If they gut the content moderation team while releasing a video product....lmaoooo https://twitter.com/...
@pseligson Paula Seligson on x
As Twitter layoffs hit, reminder that Musk ***essentially has to do deep cost cuts*** because he loaded up Twitter with debt to buy it. Annual interest increased to more than $1b, from less then $100m before. My May 17 story with details: https://www.bloomberg.com/... $twtr #elon…
@kyleworton Kyle Orton on x
Elon to bring back the fail whale! Pretty incredible, though, if the major accomplishment of his reforms is that this app, which he supposedly regards as some kind of public forum, can't handle public discussion during moments of crisis. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.co…
@valpancakes @valpancakes on x
Twitter old heads remember... Bring back the #failwhale https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tante @tante on x
Twitter is (as all Tech companies) overstaffed and inefficient. But you don't just “find” a billion USD a year while restructuring and adding new features to your service. https://twitter.com/...
@jendrawscomics @jendrawscomics on x
Uh yikes https://twitter.com/...
@iboudreau Ian Boudreau on x
Man, this site is just straight up not going to work. Forget the eight bucks https://twitter.com/...
@notshenetworks @notshenetworks on x
I'm sorry but these numbers are mind boggling. Cut 1 billion ANNUALLY? In just infra costs?? How much are the spending total annually? Omfg https://twitter.com/...
@petrillic @petrillic on x
“Twitter is currently losing about $3 million a day “with all spending and revenue considered,” according to an internal document reviewed by Reuters.” gee, that's about $1B/year, which is the f-ing interest payments on this narcissistic twat's escapades. https://twitter.com/...
@tenderlove Aaron Patterson on x
It's infrastructure week! https://www.reuters.com/...
@mattsheffield Matthew Sheffield on x
Looks like someone is trying to service his acquisition debt. But tbh if they're using Amazon services, dropping that overpriced stuff would easily help. It's astounding to me that so many companies remain on S3 and other Amazon services that offer such poor value. https://twitte…
@peteccde Pete Lumbis on x
If you don't understand the difference between CapEx and OpEx, you're gonna have a bad time. https://twitter.com/...
@zero_chill_tea @zero_chill_tea on x
broooooooo has this guy ever talked to an infrastructure person in his whole entire life i guess it makes sense won't need to repatriate if u don't have a product, kill the whole thing, no more cost to serve boom https://twitter.com/...
@danhigbie @danhigbie on x
It was a wild ride. I thought Twitter had an odd potential for longevity but I had never imagined an arrogant billionaire takeover that put the company in a place of being massively over leveraged. But who could have predicted? https://twitter.com/...
@davidcelis David Celis on x
i wasn't _totally_ convinced that Musk was gonna completely kill Twitter within a matter of days-weeks, but this would certainly do it https://www.reuters.com/...
@mijustin Justin Jackson on x
I think we'll be seeing the fail 🐳 a lot more... “The source described the proposed cuts as “delusional,” adding that when user traffic kicks up, the service can fail “in spectacular ways.” https://www.reuters.com/...
@lgbtqfc Phillies Bandwagoner Kim on x
Starting to think he genuinely did buy the company in order to destroy it? https://www.reuters.com/...
@ryanlcooper Ryan Cooper on x
“The company is aiming to find between $1.5 million and $3 million a day in savings from servers and cloud services” https://www.reuters.com/...

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