… No surprise Elon Musk is monetising platform- Social Media Specialist
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– “We will work around being present and verified on social media.”
These were Eswatini Government Spokesperson Alpheus Nxumalo’s sentiments on the reports that Twitter was contemplating on charging US$20 (E367) per month for being verified.
Yesterday, reports that the Twitter verified badge may soon cost the above mentioned charge per month broke the internet. Meaning an entity or person that is verified would now have to pay Twitter E4 404 per annum.
When sought for comment, Nxumalo said they would work around dealing with the charges, if the reports came to life.
Worth noting is that main Eswatini Government page, and its subsidiary pages, are verified, meaning they would be affected if Twitter’s motion came into effect.
“It is a fact that the youth, and people in general, can now be reached through social media as people are now almost always on their phones. To disseminate information, we need to retain our online platforms,” commented Nxumalo.
Social Media Specialist Penny Bouwer was continuously evolving in the digital world, communication and information dissemination of global news has become competitive across multiple social platforms.
“It is not surprising that billionaire Elon Musk has identified his newly acquired Twitter as an opportunity to not only monetise the platform, but to also create a premium platform to share fair and accurate information.
“There are many free social platforms, but with the pending introduction of paid verification badges, this will gradually encourage users and readers to pay to share and consume accurate information. Why pay if no-one will buy?” commented Bouwer.
She continued to say in essence, as much as this seemed like a move for celebrities and personalities to pay to be verified, it would ultimately ripple into the consumers who will eventually start paying a subscription to use the platform to keep up-to-date with the latest news in real time.
“For too long, Twitter has caused unnecessary disruption, chaos and misinformed communication. Even though it has been the fastest info-sharing platform we have seen in recent times, it has also been misused. Now is the time to have it streamlined into a fair global sharing eco-system, and this payment introduction could be the gateway to its start.”
Reporting on the matter, the Forbes online publication yesterday reported that verified users on Twitter may soon have to pay to retain their blue tick badges, as the company’s new owner, Elon Musk, looked for new ways to monetise the social media platform.
“In a characteristic vague tweet, Musk on Sunday said the ‘whole verification process’ was being revamped, without providing any details. Earlier on Sunday, journalist Casey Newton first reported that Musk is planning to charge verified accounts by pay walling the feature behind the subscription service Twitter Blue which presently costs US$4.99 (E91.50) a month.
“According to the report, Musk wants the feature to launch by November 7, 2022 and the team working on it has been warned they will be fired if they fail to meet that deadline. It is unclear how this change will apply to verified accounts of government institutions, political leaders or companies, although Musk has previously indicated he wants to charge these entities to use Twitter,” read Forbes.
When sought for comment, Social Media Specialist Bertha Sithole said she was not privy to the information, stating that she would do her research and give back detailed analysis on the impact of the news.
According to Wikipedia, introduced in June 2009, the Twitter verification system provides the site’s readers with a means to distinguish genuine notable account holders, such as celebrities and organisations, from impostors or parodies. A blue check mark displayed against an account name indicates that Twitter has taken steps to ensure that the account is actually owned by the person or organization that it is claimed to represent. The check mark does not imply endorsement from Twitter, and does not mean that tweets from a verified account are necessarily accurate or truthful in any way. People with verified accounts on Twitter are often colloquially referred to as ‘blue checks’ on social media and by reporters.
