Stephen King refuses to pay Elon Musk’s new subscription fee for Twitter accounts. “$20 a month to keep my blue tick? Fuck it, they should pay me,” King wrote on the platform.
The blue ticks have so far been used to verify the identity of prominent users. Tech billionaire Musk, who just acquired the platform for $44 billion, wants to turn it into paid subscriptions instead.
“Once this is in place, I’ll be gone like Enron,” King continued, alluding to the US energy company that spectacularly went bankrupt in 2001. Elon Musk promptly responded to King’s complaint: “We have to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” he replied to the tweet.
We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Apparently, King has convinced the Tesla and SpaceX founder to lower the price, at least for now. Shortly thereafter, Musk actually announced a price of $8. “Twitter’s current system of nobles and peasants, where it matters who has a blue tick or not, is bullshit,” he wrote. “Power to the people! Blue for $8 a month”.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Whether he can convince King to keep his hook is questionable. “That’s a bit strange,” commented one user on King’s post. “You can afford it.” “It’s not about the money,” King replied. “It’s about the principle.”
It ain’t the money, it’s the principal of the thing.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022
Fake profiles could increase sharply
Musk’s announcement caused criticism, especially among journalists. Because the verification made it relatively easy to distinguish between real accounts of prominent users and fake profiles. In this way, the hooks ensured that not only artists, but also politicians and authorities used the platform for official statements.
If everyone can buy a blue tick for a few dollars a month, it will become more difficult to distinguish real profiles from fakes.