Elon Musk may already be making major decisions involving Twitter following the $44 billion acquisition last week. The tech pioneer might have found a way to monetize blue ticks, which currently serve as verified profiles on the platform. While there's some confusion over the amount, it looks certain that users may have to pay extra.
The acquisition has been known to bring significant changes to the platform, which has grown massively since its inception. Significant shakeups have already occurred, which has seen CEO Parag Agrawal and others being released from their positions. With rumors of further downsizing, it seems like users may also have to adjust to some new changes.
Many personalities and influential organizations use verified profiles across all spheres. So far, the process has been free of cost, but highly restrictive. That could change very soon, and Musk might be using this as one of the many revenue streams he wants to bring to increase profitability.
Elon Musk has already discussed making Twitter more profitable in the days to come
The blue tick is provided in a minimal fashion, and users have to wait for approval from the platform to obtain it. Furthermore, there are specific criteria that have to be fulfilled for an account to get the tick. The tick also confirms that the profile belongs to a verified account, which could be of an individual, public office, or organization.
Currently, it's almost certain that all such accounts will have to pay a monthly fee to retain their ticks. The same might also be applied to new users who want a verified Twitter account. It needs to be clarified what the monthly amount will be, as some sources have reported it to be around $5. Other sources hinted at significantly more considerable amounts, around $20.
The Elon Musk-owned company might also make changes to the Twitter Blue service. It's a premium upgrade offered to users and comes with many perks. The service was introduced at $3, but the amount has increased up to $5 in recent months.
It remains to be seen how Twitter will develop under the stewardship of Elon Musk. The highly publicized deal came to an end last week, as the Tesla CEO paid an above-market valuation to secure ownership of the platform. Musk has promised many changes to make the platform the beacon of free speech.
How much of that happens will be a matter of the future. However, users might have to start coughing up real money in the coming days if they want a better experience. A verified profile getting monetized could be the start of similar decisions to come in the future.