Musk says Twitter will charge $8/month for blue check mark - Reuters

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc volition complaint $8 a period for its Blue service, which includes its sought-after "verified" badge, caller brag Elon Musk said connected Tuesday arsenic helium seeks to boost subscriptions and marque the societal media web little reliant connected ads.

"Twitter's existent lords & peasants strategy for who has oregon doesn't person a bluish checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month," Musk said successful a tweet, adding that the terms volition beryllium adjusted by "country proportionate to purchasing powerfulness parity."

A bluish cheque people adjacent to a person's idiosyncratic sanction connected the societal media level means Twitter has confirmed that the relationship belongs to the idiosyncratic oregon institution claiming it. Twitter is presently escaped for astir users.

Billionaire Musk bought Twitter for $44 cardinal past week.

Since the takeover, helium has moved rapidly to enactment his stamp connected the company, firing its erstwhile main and different apical officials.

Twitter's advertizing chief, Sarah Personette, tweeted connected Tuesday that she had resigned her station past week, adding further uncertainty for advertisers.

Musk connected Tuesday said subscribers with bluish cheque marks would get precedence successful replies, mentions and hunt and would beryllium capable to station longer videos and audios. They would spot fractional arsenic galore ads.

He besides offered subscribers a wage partition bypass from "publishers consenting to enactment with us."

Musk's comments travel media reports that helium was looking astatine the process of illustration verification and however the bluish cheque marks were given. Twitter utilized to springiness these to noteworthy profiles based connected its ain criteria.

More than 80% of Twitter users who took portion successful a caller canvass said they would not wage for the checkmark. Some 10% said they were consenting to wage $5 a month.

Twitter already has a subscription work called Twitter Blue, which was launched successful June past twelvemonth and offers entree to features specified arsenic an enactment to edit tweets.

Amid speculation that Twitter whitethorn soon commencement charging verified users a monthly interest of $20 for bluish ticks, bestselling writer Stephen King tweeted: "If that gets instituted, I'm gone similar Enron."

Separately, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Twitter to B- connected "significant" indebtedness summation pursuing the acquisition.

Reporting by Yuvraj Malik successful Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Sayantani Ghosh successful San Francisco Editing by Anil D'Silva and Matthew Lewis

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