Facing a Bill from Elon Musk, How Many Blue Checkmark Accounts are on Twitter?

Twitter's new boss, Elon Musk, plans to charge US$7.99 (approximately Rp125,000) per month for a subscription to the blue-checkmarked accounts.

This new policy was initially scheduled to be implemented at the beginning of November 2022. However, its enforcement has been postponed until after the US midterm elections, that is, after Tuesday, November 8, 2022, local time.

"Twitter product manager, Esther Crawford, confirmed that the feature will be launched soon, but she did not mention when it will be officially released," reported *The Verge*, Monday (7/11/2022).

Previously, Twitter announced that with this subscription fee, blue-checkmarked accounts (Blue Check) will receive new features, such as fewer ads and search priority. The company tested the feature last weekend and has updated it in the Twitter app for iOS on the App Store.

This update to the Blue Check feature is the first major change to Twitter after its official acquisition by Elon Musk. Before the billionaire took over Twitter, blue-checkmarked accounts were free.

The Blue Check feature was first introduced by Twitter in 2009 to verify public officials, agencies, artists, athletes, and other prominent individuals at risk of identity theft. However, this feature was later also used to verify businesses and brands.

According to Statista, Twitter currently has over 420,000 blue-checkmarked accounts. Although the number has been increasing since 2010, the proportion of blue-checkmarked accounts is less than 0.2% of Twitter's total daily active users, which reach 240 million accounts.