Elon Musk’s Twitter plans may include a more expensive Twitter Blue, paid auditing and, of course, layoffs

Less than a week after Twitter was taken over by Tesla+SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, there are already changes to the company’s existing policies. This time, the user verification process is being revamped, and it appears to be the latest attempt by the company to monetize its sizable user base.

Until now, any Twitter user can apply to be verified, but if they don’t meet the criteria, they won’t receive the “blue check” verification icon. Now reports indicate that the user verification rules will be changed and users may have to pay for the much-coveted verification badge.

Elon Musk, “Chief Jerk” who took upon himself microblogging site last week and immediately fired several of the company’s top executives, saying on Twitter that “the entire vetting process” had been overhauled and reviewed “right now.” And while he refrained from giving more details, Platformer said users will have to pay a subscription to keep the verification icon, citing two people familiar with the matter.

While a final decision has yet to be made — meaning it might not happen — it’s likely that account verification will eventually become part of Twitter Blue, the company’s subscription service that launched last year and will give subscribers access to exclusive features and bonuses (such as the ability to edit your tweets) in exchange for a monthly subscription.

Under the current plan, users have 90 days to sign up for Twitter Blue and pay for the subscription if they want to keep the verification badge. And Musk has already given Twitter employees his first ultimatum as Twitter owner – if they don’t launch a paid verification feature by November 7, they’ll be out of a job.

This is directly related to similar news – The Verge, citing internal correspondence, reported that Twitter’s new Blue subscription service (which includes paid verification) will charge users $19.99 per month. In contrast, the initial subscription level was $4.99 per month, but that will remain intact. It marks the expansion of Twitter’s first-ever subscription service, which aims to monetize a larger portion of its user base, and comes shortly after Musk’s “open letter” to advertisers, in which the Tesla and SpaceX chief assured them he was not buying Twitter. to “make more money”.

Speaking of Musk, the billionaire denied a report by The New York Times that he was cutting jobs and laying off some Twitter employees sometime before Nov. 1 so he could waive stock grants due that day.