Twitter is committed to monetising its platform through various means. According to a report from The Information, the Elon Musk-run company intends to charge businesses US$1,000 per month to keep their gold checkmarks. There could also be an extra charge to add badges to every account affiliated with the brand.
This lines up with a screenshot posted by social media consultant Matt Navarra, which appears to show an email exchange of Twitter employees offering the price to businesses looking to sign up as a “Verified Organization.”
Gold Badges on Twitter was rolled out ahead of its Verification for Organizations program, formerly called Blue for Business. The feature allows companies to “verify and distinguish themselves on Twitter.” It also allows companies to place a small, hyperlinked version of their logo next to the gold check of other pages associated with their business, including employees and executives. For example, the account for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has the Gold Checkmark as well as a Marvel logo next to it.
In addition to mass layoffs, this costly subscription is just one of the ways that Twitter is looking to increase revenue. According to Bloomberg, the social platform is US$12.5 billion in debt, incurred when Elon Musk took the social media juggernaut private last year. What’s more, Twitter is also facing a lawsuit for skipping out on US$1.9 million in payments to an advisory firm.
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