Twitter $8 Blue Checkmark

Overview

Twitter $8 Blue Checkmark refers to Elon Musk's proposition to introduce an $8 a month fee for verified Twitter profiles, commonly referred to as "blue checkmarks" or "blue checks." The proposal was suggested by Musk soon after his acquisition of Twitter in late October 2022 and became a viral subject of discussions online in early November that year, inspiring debate and controversy among many, including high-profile individuals such as Stephen King and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who later feuded with Musk and suggested he shadow banned her).

Background

On October 30th, 2022, Platformer^[1] reported that Elon Musk, who became the CEO of the social media website Twitter on October 28th, was mulling over charging a monthly $5 fee for the previously free verification mark as a part of Twitter Blue, Twitter's premium subscription service. Later that day, The Verge^[2] reported that Musk considered changing the cost of Twitter Blue from $4.99 to $19.99 per month.

On October 31st, 2022, writer Stephen King posted a tweet^[3] in which he wrote that he would stop using Twitter if the change was instituted, adding that Twitter should be paying him rather than vice versa. On November 1st, Musk then replied^[4] to the tweet, commenting that "Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers" and suggesting that the price should be $8 (exchange shown below).

Developments

Later on November 1st, 2022, Elon Musk posted a series of tweets^[5] describing the planned features for Twitter Blue, including priority in replies, mentions and search, the ability to post longer video and audio clips and a reduced number of ads (shown below).

Online Reactions

In the following days, the proposed fee became a viral subject of discussion on social media as users commented on it and shared memes referencing it. For example, on November 1st, 2022, Twitter^[5] user @chillmage made a tweet about it that received over 22,500 retweets and 245,600 likes in one day (shown below).

Also on November 1st, content creator Nopeify tweeted^[6] a meme referencing the change that gained over 1,300 retweets and 45,400 likes in one day (shown below, left). On November 2nd, Redditor^[7] Mobanite08 shared a Pimples? Zero meme about the proposed change that received over 5,800 upvotes in /r/memes in eight hours (shown below, right).

AOC vs. Elon Musk Twitter Conflict

Late on November 1st, 2022, following the announcement of the change, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about the proposed $8-a-month fee on her Twitter^[8] (@AOC), which Elon Musk then replied to by saying, "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8." The reply received over 950,000 likes, 72,900 retweets and 15,600 quote retweets in roughly 24 hours (seen below).

The exchange between AOC and Musk rapidly went viral and spread online after being reposted to other platforms, as well as being incorporated into memes. For example, Redditor thetrny made a political compass meme and shared it to the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes^[9] subreddit on November 2nd, receiving over 7,500 upvotes and 1,100 comments in 19 hours (seen below).

On November 3rd, 2022, AOC then tweeted^[10] that her Twitter account wasn't functioning properly, insinuating shadow banning and that Elon Musk was potentially involved (seen below).

Removal Of Legacy Blue Checks

On March 23rd, 2023, Twitter announced that by April 1st, all blue checks that hadn't been paid for with a Twitter Blue subscription would be removed (seen below).^[12] Approaching this deadline, many people and organizations who already had checkmarks because they were notable (including William Shatner, the White House and several press outlets) announced that they would not pay for a checkmark.^[11] The New York Times was among these organizations, publishing a story announcing its refusal to comply with Musk's policy change.

However, April 1st came and went with no removals of legacy accounts. On April 2nd, Twitter user @cb_doge posted a meme (seen below, top) about the New York Times announcing it wouldn't pay the $7 monthly fee for verification. In a reply to this meme, Musk announced he would take away the publication's checkmark in a move that was finalized later that day (seen below, bottom).^[13]

Musk went on to tweet disparagingly about the newspaper, comparing it to "propaganda," as well as poop (seen below, top).^[14] Meanwhile, former Simpsons writer Bill Oakley briefly impersonated the Times, earning almost 5,000 likes in six hours on April 3rd (seen below, bottom).^[15]

"Pay the $8"

The purported April 1st, 2023, purge of legacy checkmarks ultimately did not come to pass, but on April 20th, 2023, Twitter then rolled out the change across its platform.^[16] The "purge," as many dubbed it, led multiple high-profile users (including celebrities) to forgo being verified on Twitter and continue using the site for free. This perturbed many who purchased Twitter Blue, causing "Pay the $8" to trend on Twitter over the following days.^[17]

Among prominent critics of legacy checkmarks who did not sign up for Twitter Blue was Catturd, who argued that celebrities not paying for Twitter Blue were "arrogant elitist snobs worth $200 million dollars who won't pay $8 because they think they're better than everyone else"^[18] (shown below, top). User @Sassafrass841^[19] then claimed celebrities were whining because they had lost their blue checkmarks (shown below, bottom).

However, anecdotal evidence purported by users then suggested that the opposite was true. Many celebrities and other former legacy checkmark users voiced no intention of paying $8 to keep their checkmark. In fact, four celebrities who prior to the purge said they had no intention of paying the subscription fee (LeBron James, Stephen King, William Shatner and Ice T) all appeared to have had Twitter Blue purchased for them by Elon Musk.

The outrage of $8 checkmark advocates led many to comment that such critics never understood the checkmark's original purpose (to prevent impersonation) and that they viewed it as a status symbol. They also commented that the checkmark was now worthless in both regards, as the checkmark now signifies that its owner is someone who pays for Twitter.

User @KT_So_It_Goes^[20] commented on a thread by David Sacks, remarking that advocates for Twitter Blue really believed everyone really wanted their checkmark and would pay for it. User @rico_rants^[21] similarly voiced that the $8 checkmark advocates "genuinely cannot fathom that the verification badges are effectively worthless now, and it pisses them off to no end lol," gaining over 200 retweets and 1,400 likes (shown below, right).

Of note, according to an analysis done by Thomas Brown, the "purge" resulted in a purported 28 former legacy checkmark users choosing to pay for Twitter Blue.^[22] Users were supposedly able to work out that, at least on day one, the purge of legacy checkmarks led to Twitter earning just $224 a month in additional revenue.

Mashable^[23] reported that several of the site's most popular users, including Dril, have begun an informal campaign to block any blue ticks they see on sight, calling it a "#BlockTheBlue" campaign.

Search Interest

External References