Elon Musk’s big Twitter’s changes: Pay $8 for blue tick, what it will mean and more

World’s richest man Elon Musk took over Twitter after completing his $44 billion acquisition of the platform last week. Since then, a lot has happened at Twitter, from Musk walking into the headquarters with a sink in his hand to key staff members and the board of directors being fired.
The latest of this is the changes to Twitter’s verification system. Instead of the Twitter ‘blue tick’ being offered to users who have an active and notable account, or what Musk calls a ‘lords & peasants system’, the tick will now be available to only Twitter Blue subscribers at the price of $8 per month.

Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
That’s not all as Blue members will also get more benefits. This includes half the ads (not a completely ad-free experience) as well as priority in tweet replies, mentions, and search. Twitter Blue members will also be able to post long videos and audio, a move that seems like a way to attract more creators to the subscription.

And paywall pass for publishers willing to work with us
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Additionally, Twitter Blue will also come with a paywall pass feature that will work with publishers that collaborate with Twitter, Musk said in a subsequent tweet.
It isn’t very clear how the priority in replies, mentions, and search perks will work, but many Twitter users also seem disappointed with the idea that the tweets and profiles of paying verified members will take preference over those without a blue tick.
Twitter Blue prices may also vary in different regions, Musk has suggested, with the price being adjusted country “proportionate to purchasing power parity”. This suggests that the monthly amount for membership in India, for instance, may be less than $8 (about Rs 661).

Price adjusted country proportionate to purchasing power parity
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Musk has also suggested that there will be a secondary tag for public figures below their name. This is expected to be a secondary badge, and may be an addition to the blue tick for notable users.

There will be a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Musk’s decision has since faced a lot of backlash on the platform. However, the SpaceX and Tesla founder has only made the new mandatory verification fee a more concrete decision in subsequent tweets, also changing his Twitter bio to ‘Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator’.
How all this is different from Twitter’s precious verification system
Twitter’s earlier verification system handed out the blue tick mark to notable users via its own criteria, with users being able to apply for the verified badge across multiple categories for both individuals as well as organisations.
The process was also free, users who had applied for the blue tick or the ones who were deemed eligible for one were not charged, and users could also reapply once every 30 days.