Elon Musk's Pay-to-Play Strategy Will Make Twitter Clubby- Have Nots Will Suffer
Twitter Inc. is set to charge users $8 per month for the privilege of having the blue-tick honorific put on their account. We know this because Elon Musk said so, one of of many proposals the world's richest man has put forth over the past year aimed at improving the social media platform and its profitability.
The key difference is that Musk is now the owner, chairman, and chief executive officer. What he says, goes. Unless he changes his mind, which he's wont to do. Or he's simply joking, which also happens. This feels pretty real, though, given that he's talked about it quite regularly in the past.
The point of the blue tick is to confirm that the person or organization is whom they purport to be. Users generally want to know that the senator tweeting about tax policy is really an elected representative, or the sports star announcing their retirement is legitimate. This builds on the assumption that we don't really care if Joe from across the street really is Joe from across the street — unless he becomes famous and influential, in which case a blue tick may follow.
Musk calls this delineation a “lords & peasants system.” Joe from across the street has just as much claim to legitimacy as POTUS44. He's right. You and I may not care about Joe's identity, but his neighbor may want to know whether a hoard of zombies really was seen marching down the street where they both live. And the blue tick not only brings authenticity, but also accountability. Musk's own tweets were used against him in legal battles, and being able to confirm they truly were sent by the Tesla Inc. CEO was key to that process.
Yet Musk, in his desperation to introduce a subscription service instead of relying solely on ads, may be conflating the need to
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