Global Courant 2023-04-21 11:36:30
The South African tycoon confirmed the rumor on social networks and gave the names of the beneficiaries.
After the verification marks were removed this Thursday from accounts that are not subscribed to Twitter Blue, whose subscription costs $8 a month, Elon Musk, CEO of that social network, confirmed that he personally pays three celebrities for the blue tick. .
“Only Shatner, LeBron and King,” the South African tycoon responded through his Twitter account to a publication that spoke about the rumor.
LeBron James, one of three celebrities Elon Musk pays for Twitter verification. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Specifically, it is the actor William Shatner, known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek; the basketball player LeBron James, of the Los Angeles Lakers, and the renowned American writer Stephen King.
Stephen King, one of the three celebrities Elon Musk pays for Twitter verification. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
“My twitter account says I signed up for Twitter Blue. I have not. My twitter account says I have given a phone number. I have not,” King tweeted, surprised that he still had the blue check mark on even though he hadn’t subscribed. “You’re welcome, namaste,” Musk replied.
William Shatner, one of three celebrities Elon Musk pays for Twitter verification. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo
Both the athlete and the literary author had announced from the beginning that they would not pay for the Twitter subscription service.
Controversy over the changes on Twitter
Twitter Blue users can edit their tweets, post content of up to 10,000 characters, and have their tweets boosted by the platform’s algorithm.
Yet only 0.2% of web users pay for Twitter Blue: In March, Twitter Blue had around 116,000 confirmed signups across the web, up 138% from the previous month, according to Similarweb.
This amount of subscriptions does not produce enough revenue to offset the money the company lost when various companies stopped advertising on Twitter with the arrival of the CEO of Tesla and XSpace.
LeBron James, William Shatner and Stephen King: the three celebrities who are personally paid by Elon Musk for verification on Twitter. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Musk’s constant controversies and swings during his first year online have caused advertisers to flee the 2006-founded social network in droves, causing ad revenue to recently plunge by as much as 75%, according to The Washington. Post.
Many users and media said they do not plan to pay the fee of $8 per month per employee and $1,000 per month for their organizations’ check marks, the latter in yellow. Such is the case of The New York Times or of the actress Halle Berry, who announced yesterday that she will join the “unverified”.
According to Musk, those verification badges were delivered in a “corrupt and meaningless” way, although they were, in fact, quite useful in allowing users to confirm that the personalities – athletes, celebrities, journalists – with whom they interact are the person. what they claim to be).
With information from EFE.
