This is a good idea. Seek rent from brands already on the platform and clear out all the people who got a checkmark purely as a status symbol.<p>Then the checkmark can be used to bifurcate two social classes with different Twitter rights.<p>I believe Twitter has two types of content: PR and comments. The problem is they both look like tweets and have equal standing on the platform. PR is the valuable part of Twitter and comments are, well, comments. Most newspapers and blogs (the antiquated PR publishing mechanisms) already learned comments aren't worth the trouble. Now Twitter can make the distinction too.<p>For example, if you're not paying to be part of the influencer class, your comments could be hidden by default. The influencer class can also have a more stringent code of conduct, making it easier to ban people abusing their megaphone. All without stepping into 'free speech' debates with Incredibly Online keyboard warriors, who will mostly be on free accounts and themselves have what they deem to be 'free speech'.
This seems like a tiny change that will affect basically no one except for celebs and politicians and corporations. Can anyone explain why this matters? So <insert wealthy individual or group here> will have to pay or lose a blue mark?
It kind of seems to me that the average verified user would not likely pay $20 a year to retain their checkmark. Am I off base here? I don't "do twitter" all that much so perhaps others who do and have verified accounts can comment on this.
So will this lead to more sketchy accounts paying for the tick making it anthetical to it's original purpose of verifying the "real person"?
The “Exodus of the Bluechecks” was foretold…<p><a href="https://danluu.com/elon-twitter-texts/#22" rel="nofollow">https://danluu.com/elon-twitter-texts/#22</a>
Great idea. It's high time that social networks build an alternate "serious" revenue stream than the ad-focussed user-data-harvesting one.<p>This might also lead to Twitter being more open like developer APIs with ecosystem of apps built on top (like mobile app stores). There would be less reasons to keep the gardens locked and walled when revenues are not tied to ad impressions and eyeballs.
I saw a mention of this last night and honestly I couldn't help but cringe inside.<p>What will the Twitter timeline look like when everyone has a little bird next to their name?<p>I am not saying the current system is ideal but fundamentally it will have to change because at the moment the verified badge is seen as a "novelty" part of Twitter's identity as a platform.