Elon Musk says 'Twitter account verification process being revamped'; likely to charge for blue tick
Elon Musk on Sunday said the process of gaining verification on Twitter is being revamped. According to what the billionaire tweeted, the complete verification process is likely to undergo changes and those requesting a 'blue tick' may have to furnish more details.
Musk, who completed a USD 44-billion deal to buy Twitter on Thursday, responded to a Twitter user, who raised a query about his verification on the social media platform.
"Any chance in helping with verification? Denied some 4-5 times despite large following and working to share spaceflight/rocket launches to the masses via my photography. Published in a plethora of huge outlets but Twitter doesn’t seem to care," the user wrote.
To this, Musk said, "The whole verification process is being revamped right now."
Several media reports stated Twitter is considering charging for the coveted blue check mark, which verifies the identity of a user.
Users would have to subscribe to Twitter Blue at .99 a month or lose their "verified" badges if the project moves forward, according to the report.
Reports also stated Twitter will increase the subscription price for Twitter Blue, which also verifies users, from .99 a month to .99 a month, citing internal correspondence seen by them.
Elon Musk to begin laying off employees at Twitter?
Meanwhile, the billionaire has planned to begin laying off employees at Twitter, according to a media report. This comes days after he completed the USD 44-billion acquisition of the social media company.
The New York Times reported that Musk “planned to begin laying off workers” at Twitter as soon as on Saturday.
Citing people with knowledge of the situation, the report said that some managers were being asked to "draw up lists of employees to cut."
Ahead of Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, reports were circulating that he will cut headcount, with some reports saying 75 per cent of the workforce at the company could be laid off.
“Musk, who completed a USD 44-billion deal to buy Twitter on Thursday, has ordered the cuts across the company, with some teams to be trimmed more than others,” the NYT report said, adding that the “scale of the layoffs could not be determined” at the company, which has around 7,500 employees.
The NYT report said that the layoffs at Twitter “would take place before” the November 1 date when “employees were scheduled to receive stock grants as part of their compensation.
Such grants typically represent a significant portion of employees’ pay.
By laying off workers before that date,” Musk “may avoid paying the grants.”
Musk has told investors that he “would take Twitter private, reduce its work force, roll back its content moderation rules and find new revenue streams.”
CEO Parag Agrawal, legal executive Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett were ousted as Musk’s acquisition was completed.
Within hours of taking over the reins at Twitter, the Tesla CEO posted a series of tweets.
Agrawal, 38, was appointed Twitter CEO in November last year after the social media site’s co-founder Jack Dorsey had stepped down.
As the Twitter account of former US President Donald Trump was permanently suspended in January last year, Hyderabad-born Gadde was at the forefront of this dramatic decision undertaken within days of the attempted insurrection by pro-Trump supporters at the US Capitol.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone thanked Agrawal, Segal and Gadde for their "massive contribution" to the business.
Also Read | 'Twitter is now in sane hands': Donald Trump lauds Twitter takeover by Elon Musk
Latest World News