Elon Musk suggests Twitter Blue overhaul
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Elon Musk at Tesla's "Gigafactory" in Gruenheide, Berlin, last month. Photo: Patrick Pleul - Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk suggested in a series of tweets Saturday night changes to the premium Twitter Blue service — including a cheaper subscription price, banning ads and offering the option to pay in cryptocurrency.
Our thought bubble: Musk, Twitter's largest shareholder, is continuing to make very specific policy and product recommendations in public even though he now serves on the social media network's board and could presumably propose and promote them internally.
Driving the news: The Tesla chief executive tweeted that all Twitter Blue subscribers "should get an authentication checkmark" that's different from the verification one for official accounts and public and media figures.
- "Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn't get checkmark for 60 days (watch for credit card chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam," Musk said.
- "And no ads. The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive," he added.
Meanwhile, the world's richest man agreed with a Twitter user who suggested a cheaper subscription price for poorer countries, saying the cost "should be proportionate to affordability & in local currency."
- "Maybe even an option to pay in Doge?" Musk said, in reference to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
- He also opened a Twitter poll on whether the company's San Francisco headquarters should be converted into a homeless shelter because he said "no-one shows up (to work there)." It had garnered over half a million votes by late Saturday.
What to watch: Twitter was due to host Musk for a staff "question-and-answer session" following his appointment to the microblogging site's board last week following his purchase of a 9.2% stake in the company, per the Washington Post.
- A spokesperson for Twitter declined to comment on Musk's tweets.
Go deeper: Elon Musk could dictate the future of Twitter
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Twitter declined to comment.
