Elon Musk will end the ‘lords & peasants’ blue tick system by charging for it – 15 verified takedowns
Elon Musk, new owner, CEO and Dictator for Life of Twitter, has thrown the cat among the bluebirds by announcing charges for Twitter verfication – blue ticks.
As well as causing an entertaining exchange between Musk and Stephen King, the move became a main talking point on Twitter, in a crowded field of Matt Hancock’s I’m a Celebrity appearance and giant baubles rolling around London.
Blue tick on twitter is signifier of clout.
Those with clout will lose their clout if they appear to be paying for this vanity badge.
Those with no clout will buy and signal it and try to appear important.
End result : chaos. But maybe that’s what the end goal is.
— Kunal Shah (@kunalb11) November 1, 2022
Imagine being the loser who pays $8 a month for a blue tick though. Lol.
— . (@twlldun) November 1, 2022
Do you want to buy a blue tick? They’re 20 bucks, no wait… eight bucks. You gotta buy one, the ad revenue won’t pay the bills alone! pic.twitter.com/5ZidD9RWSB
— Ned Hartley (@NedHartley) November 1, 2022
I didn’t ask for, want or consent to being blue ticked. It just happened. Anyone who is going to pay $20 a month to keep that is an idiot. The tick isn’t even blue for a start. I’m not paying $20 for something blue that isn’t even blue.
— Richard K Herring (@Herring1967) November 1, 2022
Musk explained his thinking on the charge – and the extras accompanying it.
A lot of people pointed out the problem with the pay-as-you-glow system.
I think this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how verification is supposed to work. A blue check has been perceived as a status symbol for some time when really it’s just supposed to tell you if a page is authentic or not. https://t.co/LRzi10OMJr
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 1, 2022
These responses say it all.
1.
Lords and peasant system is bullshit power to the people [two tweets later] please pay to be prioritized over the peasants pic.twitter.com/M0JVvA8uwm
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) November 1, 2022
2.
Could we get a Saffron tick by paying more? https://t.co/ICd7Or1PuE
— Bhavesh Kansara (@kansaratva) November 1, 2022
3.
It's almost as if he bought Twitter without having any serious plan for after the purchase and is just making shit up as he goes. https://t.co/NgqbmJvvoH
— Michael Glasper (@michaelglasper) November 1, 2022
4.
That’s not power to the people—
That’s power to the rich, regardless of merit
… and regardless of need to be verified (ie stop confusion via impersonations).
— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) November 1, 2022
5.
just so I’m clear, he’s solving an imaginary ‘lords and peasants’ system by making it so only certain people can afford it. what a fucking dumbass https://t.co/Lv63WLqiYz
— Fred Delicious (@Fred_Delicious) November 1, 2022
6.
Firstly: does that mean anyone can buy a blue tick? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the blue tick?
2nd: it’s mad to me that Stephen King can say no to paying $20 and Elon Musk can just pluck a new price out of thin air.
Does that mean there’s literally no business model? https://t.co/hVkpE7xSNb
— Summer Ray (@SummerRay) November 1, 2022
7.
Even if I thought a blue tick and the added facilities were worth 8 quid, I wouldn't give it to Elon Musk.
— Michael Volpe OBE (@NoisyMV) November 1, 2022
8.
Isn’t the verification to prove it’s the person / band that they claim to be??? There are zero other benefits. If you care about ‘peasants’ there is maybe a better home for your billions.
Yours,
Lord @Tim_Burgess https://t.co/UM1ONFQXFq— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) November 1, 2022
9.
Me to my blue tick https://t.co/uLgKB0K88e pic.twitter.com/XQNhQuq24c
— Tez (@tezilyas) November 1, 2022
10.
Billionaire preaching about Lords and peasants is quite the sight
— Otto English (@Otto_English) November 1, 2022
11.
$8 still seems high to me for these meaningless features. Brands might want the long video/audio thing but the other two are stupid. Indeed, there is a free way to see zero ads: tweetdeck https://t.co/mA9UQ2jXZH
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) November 1, 2022
12.
“I don’t agree with the lords and peasants system on Twitter, but I’m fine with sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars in real life while people starve.” https://t.co/5a2PoWm4hC
— Fancy Brenda 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (they/them) (@SpillerOfTea) November 1, 2022
13.
"Priorities in replies" is something only a celeb would think is important. Most tweets get like 2 replies tops, this only matters for like, come-to-brazil stan twitter and weirdos who reply to like, Joe Biden https://t.co/kWbAt1mPFJ
— Katie Notopoulos (@katienotopoulos) November 1, 2022
14.
Interesting call to make something that is “essential to defeat spam/scam” a premium product rather than something all users can expect. https://t.co/JsN3c5aKqk
— Tom Hamilton (@thhamilton) November 1, 2022
15.
“Down with the lords and peasants system!” – the richest man in the world asking you to pay him $96/year in the name of “free speech.” pic.twitter.com/wtoxMfOKOQ
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) November 1, 2022
This checks out.
The more money you spend, the more free speech you get. https://t.co/P9eDSjKzxt
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) November 1, 2022
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