Elon Musk revealed that the price of Twitter Blue subscriptions would increase, and those who are enrolled will receive a distinctive blue checkmark indicating their verified status.

“Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bulls***. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

WARNING: The following text includes inflammatory language that may offend some readers.

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

Subscribers will have “priority in replies, mentions, and search… the ability to submit extended video and audio” and “half as many advertisements.”

In addition, they would be able to overcome paywalls from “publishers eager to engage with [Twitter],” Musk wrote in his post on the subscription service.

The news comes after The Verge claimed on Sunday that Twitter Blue would cost $20 per month and grant verified status to anybody who paid.

Verified status on Twitter was formerly granted for free to people who applied and met the criteria of being legitimate, prominent, and active.

According to Twitter’s help center, Twitter Blue is a membership service that provides users with a more personalized experience.

The program originally cost $4.99 per month, according to The Wall Street Journal.

There has been opposition to Musk’s proposals.

“If you don’t pay $8/month for Twitter Blue, then the platform will suppress your replies and visibility in search results. Free speech indeed,” one user tweeted.

If you don’t pay $8/month for Twitter Blue, then the platform will suppress your replies and visibility in search results. Free speech indeed. https://t.co/K2BYmZnQqe

— Marcus Hutchins (@MalwareTechBlog) November 1, 2022

More on this story via The Western Journal:

But there are some in favor of the changes that Musk is bringing to Twitter.

“Basically Musk is saying ‘I’m taking away the blue checkmark as a verification badge and using it as a badge for a premium version of Twitter that includes a bunch of other features like fewer ads and better placement.’ Actually an alright change if you ask me,” one user tweeted. CONTINUE READING…