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

It’s not easy to horrify Stephen King, the author of such hair-raisers as Misery, Carrie, The Shining, Cujo and Pet Sematary. However, Elon Musk's proposal to charge a subscription fee for Twitter’s verified badge — the blue tick — has him eyeing the exits.

“$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.


Responding to a Twitter poll from entrepreneur, podcaster and angel investor Jason Calacanis asking people if they were willing to pay for a verified badge, Chesky said, “Twitter is better when everyone is verified, so I would make it free (with a goal of everyone being verified) and decouple it from paid membership.”


Calacanis is rumoured to be helping Musk reshape Twitter in line with the Tesla chief’s vision..