Twitter Blue subscription fee reportedly raised to $20! Unsubscribed "Blue Checkmark" will disappear

Tesla CEO Musk's love-hate relationship with Twitter finally came to a conclusion last Friday, officially completing the acquisition of Twitter on the 28th. Since the acquisition, reports have emerged of several senior executives being dismissed, and there are also rumors that the fees for Twitter Blue will increase, with the blue checkmark no longer being available for free.

Twitter Blue Monthly Fee Increases to $19.99

According to The Verge, Elon Musk plans to raise the fee for Twitter Blue and use it for user verification, increasing the cost from $4.99 per month to $19.99.

Additionally, the current blue checkmark feature on Twitter will also become a paid service. Users who currently have the blue checkmark will have 90 days to subscribe to Twitter Blue; otherwise, they will lose the checkmark.

Employees working on this project were informed that they need to launch this feature by November 7, or they will be fired.

Note: Twitter Blue was launched in June last year, offering users additional features such as article editing, bookmark folders, customized app icons and themes, and a reading mode.

Elon Musk also tweeted on Sunday on his Twitter account, stating, "The entire verification process is now being improved."

After this news spread on social media, well-known cryptocurrency journalist Laura Shin conducted a simple survey on Twitter, asking if people are willing to pay $20 per month to maintain the verified status with the blue checkmark. According to the results, about 60% of users are not willing to do so.

Renowned Author Stephen King Pushes Back, Musk Bargains: What About $8?

11/1 Update: Renowned American horror writer Stephen King is clearly against this policy, stating that there is no reason to pay for a verified account; Twitter should be paying him instead.

In response, Musk mentioned that Twitter always has costs to cover and cannot solely rely on advertisers. "What about $8?" Musk said he would explain the reasons before implementing this mechanism. This is the only way to combat bot and provocative speech accounts.