Elon Musk’s rebranded social media platform X might seem to be running smoothly as the free speech haven it claims to be. But it is not without its challenges.
A new book written by reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac—which seeks to reveal how the billionaire “destroyed Twitter” after purchasing the company two years ago—details the backfired plan of “Twitter Blue,” an updated verification process which originally planned to charge users for the check mark on their account.
Musk was given governance over the social media platform in October 2022 with a highly publicized deal worth $44 billion. A month later, he announced that he was planning to charge users $19.99 a month to maintain a verified account. He soon switched this to $8 a month, following backlash. At the time, the platform’s monthly subscription cost was no more than $5.
The new Twitter leadership was reportedly trying to incorporate the verification process into the subscription, therefore planning to increase the payments. Initial proposals would have rescinded blue check marks from previously verified users if they failed to make the higher payment within 90 days.
But Musk’s plan to rake in some more profits completely backfired as it ultimately allowed users to simply pay a fee to get a blue check mark but did not actually verify the identity of who the account said it was representing.
As detailed in an adapted narrative from the book which was recently published by the New York Times, fake accounts for public figures and businesses were verified and began wreaking havoc on the site. Advertisers told the platform’s sales team that it would pull ads if the problem was not resolved and, according to sources interviewed by Mac and Conger, Nike warned it might never advertise on Twitter again.
Musk then is said to have ordered one of his engineers to “turn it off,” fearing the profit loss that was at stake. The business was already trying to manage a hefty amount of debt after Musk borrowed roughly $13 billion for his $44 billion investment. But that is not the only challenge faced by the entrepreneur.
Musk has gone from one extreme to the other as he frantically tries to save the floundering company. One day he may be all but kicking out advertisers but pleading with them to return the next. He has also initiated major layoffs—only to ask ex-employees to come back later.
Though successful in other business ventures like Tesla, Musk has gained little favor in the business world for his apparent inability to operate a social media company. And, unfortunately, the impact of his failed Twitter Blue plan continues to this day.
Fake accounts for real people and businesses—including politicians and celebrities—are still running rampant on Twitter, which has since been rebranded as X. One engineer at the company told Conger and Mac that the situation is “an obvious train wreck” and described the work done by employees amid the Twitter Blue catastrophe was to ensure that it was “the safest train wreck possible.”
