Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, announced a new approach to account verification as of mid-April: only paid, verified accounts would be recommended to other users on the platform. This shift places a premium on subscriptions and ties visibility to a paid status that signals verification by the service.
In a post on a Tuesday, Musk outlined changes to the Twitter Blue program, describing a reorganization where verification requires a subscription. The blue check, once a badge granted through other means, would now be associated with accounts that pay a fee to receive it, effectively converting verification into a paid feature.
He argued that this step is a practical safeguard against automated activity from bots that generate and spread content without human oversight. The aim, according to the founder, is to curb widespread manipulation while maintaining a healthier information environment on the platform.
Under the new scheme, subscription verification would influence who can participate in polls on the site. Musk indicated that only verified subscribers would have a say in poll results, changing the dynamics of engagement and user influence within conversations hosted on Twitter.
Accounts that do not subscribe would not be included in the platform’s suggested tweet stream, reducing their reach and visibility in the feed of other users. This adjustment reinforces the tie between paid verification and discoverability across the service.
Twitter currently charges about seven dollars per month for the blue tick, which functions as a signal of identity and provides access to a set of premium features beyond basic posting. The change marks a shift from a one-size-fits-all verification badge to a monetized ecosystem where value is closely linked to ongoing subscription status.
The move arrived shortly after Musk reassured staff with an internal note regarding the company’s valuation, noting a figure around twenty billion dollars, substantially below the roughly forty-four billion paid for the platform in the previous year. These financial signals have fed ongoing discussions about strategy and market expectations for the social network.
Since acquiring Twitter, Musk has steered several cost-cutting measures, including significant staff reductions and the disposal of substantial assets at the headquarters in San Francisco. Advertisers, a key revenue source, have also reduced spending, adding pressure to new monetization ideas like paid verification. The initial reception of Twitter Blue’s paid model has been mixed, with some users embracing the feature and others expressing concerns about changes to verification and visibility across the platform. Market observers note that the long-term impact will depend on user adoption, perceived value, and how advertisers respond to evolving pricing and policy decisions.