Twitter’s new ‘sole director’ Elon Musk’s decision to charge users for the verification blue tick next to usernames — that shows whether an account is authentic or not — has triggered outrage and disbelief among several users. Musk’s decision to charge $8 (roughly Rs 660) every month for blue ticks did not go down well with many users including celebrity authors and politicians. Horror novelist Stephen King said he refuses to pay for a monthly subscription to keep his verified status on Twitter. “$20 a month to keep my blue check?” King tweeted.
Musk responded that the company’s weak finances offered him no choice but to charge a fee. “We need to pay the bills somehow!” Musk wrote to King. “Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”
It ain’t the money, it’s the principal of the thing.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who has a verified account like most other athletes, said having a verified account wasn’t very important to her and that she was satisfied with or without a blue tick.
I didn’t ask for the blue check mark- it just showed up one day, so feel free to take it away. My peeps know it’s me.
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) November 1, 2022
US politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also hit back at Elon Musk’s plan to charge Twitter users a monthly fee to keep their accounts verified. “Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan,” the Democrat tweeted.
Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 2, 2022
What is Musk offering Twitter users for $8?
So far, the verification badge was free of cost on Twitter and it helped in distinguishing genuine profiles of notable users (celebrities, athletes, news organisations, politicians, etc.) from parodies and fake accounts.
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. Users are asked to submit verified ID proofs, along with URLs from verified organisations in some cases, to get their account verified before getting the much-coveted blue tick.
Twitter Blue is a subscription service offered by the microblogging platform, earlier available at $4.99 per month, which offers extra perks such as undoing tweets (within 30 seconds), bookmarking folders, and more. With the revamp of the Twitter Blue subscription service, current blue tick holders will have 90 days to subscribe (for a monthly fees of $8) or else lose the check mark.
Apart from the blue badge, users who will pay $8 per month will also get priority in replies, mentions and searches, which Musk claims as essential to defeating spam or scam. The users will be able to post long videos and audio and also see half as many ads.
But those who are not convinced of the benefits can judiciously utilise $8 for various other purposes. There are several services that one can avail of from the charges levied by Twitter for getting the verification badge.
Here’s what can you get otherwise for $8/Rs 660
It should be noted that if we don’t pay $8 per month, you might lose your blue tick, but still continue using Twitter as earlier, being able to see tweets from any accounts as well as being able to comment on or retweet any posts that take your fancy.
From going on a quick coffee date to subscribing to OTT platforms, there are many things one can happily do with this amount.
OTT subscriptions: One can easily avail Netflix Basic service for just Rs 199 per month or Apple One for Rs 195. The Premium Netflix plan comes for only Rs 649 per month. Similarly, Amazon Prime Video also charges Rs 179 for monthly subscriptions. You can avail YouTube Premium monthly plan for Rs 139.
Coffee date: You can also enjoy a simple coffee date with your friend at a nearby restaurant.
Salon service: A salon experience is readily available near your house for under Rs 660.
Buying clothes: There are so many things that one can buy under this budget. From buying cool sneakers to t-shirts, there are several e-commerce sites offering you deals on such things online.
Concerts/movies: You can simply enjoy a movie or watch a music concert for a ticket price within this budget.
So, you don’t need to worry. If you are not game for the Twitter charges, go enjoy these with the same amount of money.