Twitter user explains why Musk decided to charge for blue tick accounts. Elon agrees
“He wants to blowout all these bots, fake, and ‘keyboard warrior accounts’,” tweeted Hassan Sajwani, a ‘social media influencer’ from the UAE.
Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk on Wednesday agreed with a ‘social media influencer’ from the UAE, who argued that Musk decided to charge a monthly fee from verified accounts to ‘blowout the bots and keyboard warriors.’
Also Read: Elon Musk announces $8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts
“One of the reasons that @elonmusk wants to charge for the blue checkmark is to blowout all these bots, fake, and ‘keyboard warrior accounts’,” tweeted Hassan Sajwani, who, according to his Twitter profile, tweets on technology, business, counter-terrorism, and politics.
“Exactly!” replied Musk, also the Tesla CEO and wealthiest person in the world.
The South African-born US entrepreneur, who recently acquired the social media giant, announced on Tuesday night that a monthly fee of $8 (approx. ₹662) will be charged for blue tick accounts on the microblogging site. At present, users with verified handles do not have to pay anything for their badges.
Later, responding to those outraging at his decision, the business executive, aged fifty-one, said all complainers can keep complaining, but the monthly fee will stay.
The backlash began earlier this week, when reports emerged that soon, Twitter handles with verification will be asked for $20 a month to maintain their badges. On a tweet by a furious author Stephen King, Musk on Tuesday wrote that Twitter ‘need to pay bills somehow’ and ‘cannot rely entirely on advertisers.’
Also Read: Elon Musk responds to backlash over $8 fee for Twitter blue tick: ‘Continue complaining, but...’
“How about $8?” he asked. Hours later, the official announcement was made.