Students have reacted to Stephen King and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comments following Elon Musk’s plans to charge $8 per month to stay verified on Twitter.
Students React Following Stephen King And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Comments About Elon Musk’s Plans To Charge For Being Twitter Verified-‘Capitalism At Its Finest’
The verification was initially seen as an attempt to distinguish accounts that had a significant following based on the credible brand that they had achieved. And as part of that process, it gave people an incentive to grow their following organically.
But as there could be plans to introduce a charge for maintaining the blue tick, this has now been questioned on two counts. First of all, it diminishes the need for others to develop their fan base.
Secondly, it is seen as a ploy to generate a significant amount of money based on the hard work of those that had achieved the blue tick in the first place. This was reflected in the comments, as Stephen King made it clear he was against the proposal when it was set at $20 initially.
In a post on Twitter, King said: “$20 a month to keep my blue check? F**k that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.” Much in the same way, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke out against Elon’s plans by seeing it as an attack on freedom of speech.
After all, it is no secret that an account with verification is more likely to have a bigger influence than those that would not. As such, by tying it to a monetary amount, Elon was blamed for controlling the narrative.
Alexandria’s following comments confirmed as much: “Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan.”
Aside from those views mentioned previously, the ordinary joe has also spoken out against those plans. Some students at the University of Texas were asked to give their opinions over the upcoming plans. One student went so far as to state that this was “capitalism at its finest.”
Elon may justify this by raising funds for the platform, but is it a price worth paying? So there you have it folks. What did you think about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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