Author Stephen King horrified by proposal to monetise Twitter’s blue tick; Elon Musk tries to bargain with him

“$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron,” tweeted King, irritated by Musk’s proposal, but unable to resist the urge to indulge in a bit of his typical wordplay at the end.

Musk, who has received a mixed response from Twitterati on his plans to monetise the blue tick, was quick to respond. He said: “We need to pay the bills somehow!”

Twitter, he said, cannot rely entirely on advertisers. He went on to bargain with King about the fee and asked, “How about $8?”

Musk said he would soon explain the rationale for the charge in a longer form before the plans were implemented. The new Twitter boss believes it’s the only way to defeat bots and trolls.

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