After much uncertainty around Twitter Blue’s revamp, Elon Musk laid out the company’s approach. He said that the new paid plan will cost $8 per month — something that he mentioned in a reply to Stephen King’s tweet. Plus, the price will be adjusted according to purchasing power parity of the country, hinting toward a global launch of Twitter Blue.
Musk’s tweet also says that the social network’s current verification system is akin to a “lords & peasants” system. His tweet about the new paid plan indicated offering verification to subscribers.
Musk also noted some of the features that will roll out with this new plan, including fewer ads, priority in replies (something which verified handles get through the “Verified” notification channel) mentions and search, and the ability to post longer videos than the current limit of 2 minutes 20 seconds
Musk has a tendency of changing his mind quickly, so we should take this announcement with a grain of salt. These might not be the final set of features when Twitter rolls out its new subscription plan.
Earlier this week, reports noted that Musk and Twitter are revamping the verification process, and it might involve a fee as high as $20 per month. However, the billionaire has seemed to settle on the $8 per month pricing for now. The reports also noted that the current set of verified users will lose their blue checkmark if they don’t pay for the new paid plan. Musk hasn’t mentioned any such measure in the new Twitter thread about the subscription plan.
Earlier today, TechCrunch reported that Twitter is ending support for ad-free articles offered under its Twitter Blue program. The company sent an email to participating publisher partners about the program’s end.
While Twitter is ending payments and partnerships with the current set of publishers, Musk said that it will create a new program for bypassing paywalls for publishers willing to work with the company. He also mentioned that the subscription revenue stream will help Twitter in rewarding content creators — but didn’t specify how.
A crucial detail missing from this thread is a timeline of the rollout for this new paid plan. A report by CNBC suggested the Tesla and SpaceX exec has set very aggressive deadlines for the Twitter Blue revamp, with some employees having to work 12-hour shifts.
Currently, Twitter Blue is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Notably, data from analytics firm Sensor Tower suggests that Twitter’s app has generated only $6.4 million in in-app purchases to date, with Blue being the top purchase. Musk & co. will hope that this new subscription plan works better than that.
