X (formerly Twitter) users with 2,500 or more followers will be given “verified” status, owner Elon Musk confirmed in his recent change to the microblogging site.
After taking over the platform in October 2022, the head of Tesla and SpaceX wasted no time and put the previously free blue tick status behind a paywall.
Since then, users have had to pay £9.60 per month to access premium features, such as the ability to write longer posts, edit posts and browse ad-free.
Going forward, all 𝕏 accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2024
An additional Premium Plus option provides access to the AI tool Grok for £19.20 per month.
Musk said in a post on X that accounts with more than 5,000 followers will get Premium+ for free.
“Only through a subscription can we ensure that the big brands that advertise cannot demand censorship of this platform,” he said.
In March 2023, Musk announced that the blue checkmarks would be a paid privilege.
“(It’s) the only realistic way to counter takeover by sophisticated AI bot swarms,” he said. “Otherwise it’s a hopeless battle.”
Musk also refuted claims that declining usage forced him to change, saying, “The reality is that traditional media views were declining and this platform was growing.”
Despite this claim and its shared data on X seconds spent on the app, daily usage fell to 174 million users in February – a 15 percent drop from 2023.
Musk has introduced several changes during his tenure – not least renaming the site to X. However, some users have complained about an increase in advertising.
The Standard contacted X about this and received an automated response: “Busy now, I’ll be back later.” This is different from the previous automated response with the poop emoji.
Jeff Bezos recently overtook Musk and is now the richest man in the world.
