Elon Musk, Twitter Inc’s largest shareholder, proposed a slew of modifications to the company’s Twitter Blue premium membership service on Saturday, including lowering the price, eliminating advertising, and allowing users to pay in the cryptocurrency dogecoin.
Musk, who recently declared a 9.2 percent ownership in Twitter, was granted a position on its board of directors, causing some Twitter employees to become concerned about the company’s ability to monitor content.
Twitter Blue, which debuted in June 2021, is the company’s first subscription service, providing “exclusive access to premium services” on a monthly basis, according to Twitter. In the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, it is available.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, stated on Twitter that users who sign up for Twitter Blue should pay substantially less than the current $2.99 per month, and should receive an authentication checkmark as well as the opportunity to pay in local currency.
“Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn’t get checkmark for 60 days & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,” Musk said in a tweet.
“And no ads,” Musk suggested. “The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.”
Musk also proposed an option to pay with dogecoin and asked Twitter users for their views. “Price should probably be $2/month,” Musk stated in a tweet, “but paid 12 months up front & account doesn’t get checkmark for 60 days & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam.”
“And no advertisements,” Musk added. “If Twitter relies on advertising revenue to stay afloat, companies have a lot more ability to dictate policy.”
Musk also recommended paying using dogecoin and solicited feedback from Twitter users.