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The billionaire is set to cut 3,700 positions by the end of this week and finalize a plan to sell subscriber blue checks for $8 per month by the start of next week, Elon Musk’s ambitions for Twitter are starting to take shape.
According to Bloomberg, the “badges” might become active as early as Monday, with current owners of blue checks enjoying a “grace period” of several months before being required to pay or lose it.
Elon Musk Plans To eliminate 3,700 Twitter Employees- Why And What Happened?
In an effort to save expenses, Musk plans to terminate approximately 3,700 employees by the end of this week and cease Twitter’s “work from anywhere” policy.
Musk has fluctuated throughout his effort to acquire Twitter over the number of roles he would remove, first estimating as high as 75% of the 7,500 employees before informing them last week, with some reports indicating it would be 25%.
Since he acquired the business, Musk, 51, has been promoting his concept for a blue check charge, claiming it will abolish the ‘lords and peasants’ arrangement that currently exists on the social media site.
Musk plans to eliminate about 3,700 employees and end Twitter’s ‘work from anywhere policy in an attempt to drive down costs
The 3,700 cuts would amount to about half the staff and would see them follow out five high-level executives who have resigned in the past week.
Musk originally suggested $20 a month for verification but appeared to lower the cost after an exchange earlier this week with horror writer Stephen King, where he offered him a discount.
The billionaire is looking to make good on his promise to make the social media platform turn a profit by introducing a charge for Twitter users wanting to keep their verification badge.
But in a sign that the price might not be a done deal, Musk responded to a tweet from the author of The Shining complaining about the new charge.
‘$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me,’ wrote King, who has 6.9million followers. ‘If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.’
But Musk, noticing the author’s complaints, seemed to be in the mood to haggle.
Author Stephen King, who wrote The Shining, said he will leave the platform if Musk introduces a blue-tick verification charge
‘We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?’ he replied.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the discount would apply only to King or to the wider Twitter user base as well, but the comments suggested the $20 figure was not exactly set in stone.
Musk went on to say that he will ‘explain the rationale in longer form’ before the charge is implemented, but added that it is ‘the only way to defeat the bots & trolls’.
When users replied to say King could more than afford the fee, he replied: ‘It ain’t the money, it’s the principle of the thing.’
The author, who has previously said he ‘admires Elon Musk’, hasn’t yet responded to the chief executive directly. But many of his fans rushed in to comment in his stead.
’44 Billion to buy the place and his new revenue stream is to push a tin cup at Stephen King,’ said one Twitter user.
‘It’s nice of you to give Stephen King who is worth $500M a $12/mo discount,’ said another.
‘He’s not leaving. They all threaten but they need this platform,’ said a third user.
Actress, writer, and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn’t pay if a charge is introduced to the platform
King is not the only blue-tick Twitter user to threaten to delete their accounts if the service starts charging.
Kathy Burke, an actress, writer, and comedian, said that she would not pay.
With his plan to charge blue tickers, Musk should f*** off. This terrible site gets all I have for nothing. He should be paying ME, you cheeky b****. In any case, don’t need the proxy item.
TV scriptwriter Shonda Rhimes, actor Mia Farrow, Madam Secretary’s Téa Leoni, She Hulk’s Jameela Jamil, and authors and campaigners Shaun King and Amy Siskind are just a few of the famous people who have threatened to boycott the website.
Star Trek actor George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu, likewise declared that he would think about going through the electronic door.
On Monday, businessman Jason Calacanis published a poll asking respondents if they would be willing to pay $5, $10, $15 per month for verification or nothing at all. As of the time of writing, about 81 percent of respondents said they would not pay.
To the survey, Musk said, “Interesting.”
Some content management options on the social media platform have been restricted since Elon took charge.
Elon Musk is pictured speaking with employees at Twitter HQ. The CEOÂ allegedly issued an ultimatum to the platform’s engineers, telling them to revamp the platform in two weeks
A blue tick badge allows other Twitter users to verify that other users are who they say they are. The feature has always been free since Twitter’s inception, but Musk is promising to shake up the company’s operations
Other Twitter users can confirm that other users are who they claim to be by looking for a blue tick badge.
The service has always been free since Twitter’s founding, but when Musk first announced his intention to purchase the social media behemoth, it has been evident that the billionaire has other plans for the business.
Unspecified features that have not yet been disclosed will be covered by the pricing.
The conversation took place after the new Twitter CEO allegedly gave the platform’s engineers a deadline of less than two weeks to redesign Twitter’s verification system or risk being fired.
The project was only announced to the staff on October 30; they have till November 7 to complete it.
Twitter limits some content moderation tools just days before the midterms
The social media platform has restricted several content moderation capabilities soon before the American midterm elections, days after Elon Musk assumed control of Twitter.
Staff members’ capacity to prevent false information may be hampered because they won’t be able to manually alter or penalize accounts.
The newest modification by Musk was made after he sacked the Twitter board and drastically reduced employees, leaving only himself on it.
Currently, employees of Twitter’s Trust and Safety department are unable to change or penalize accounts that violate the social media platform’s policies on false information, abusive remarks, and hate speech.
According to insiders on the matter, they can only penalize people making posts that violate Twitter rules to the extent of real-world harm, according to Bloomberg.
They added that the team were manually enforcing those posts.
