Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has gone on a meme spree to defend the decision of charging $8 a month for the blue tick on the microblogging site. Although Musk has reaffirmed his stance on the matter since the charge was announced triggering criticism, he didn’t restrain from sharing memes to support his decision. The world’s richest entrepreneur, who seems to be unaffected by the backlash, posted a number of memes to support his decision that has left the Internet in splits.
Defending his decision, Musk had already posted a number of tweets to sell blue ticks to those who can afford them. One of his tweets says, “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
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The entrepreneur believes the subscription fee will offer the company “a revenue stream to reward content creators” instead of depending on advertisers.
In his effort to pitch for the new charges, Musk shared a funny meme dressed in his Halloween costume with the caption, ‘All for $8,’. Justifying his stance, the Tesla CEO posted another meme depicting people being happy to buy coffee at Starbucks for $8 but whining about paying the same amount for a verification tick on Twitter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
Continuing with the streak of sarcasm, Musk shared a photo that showed a sweatshirt made for American politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sold on her website for $58.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
Ocasio-Cortez back at the Tesla owner over the t-shirt post saying, “Proud of this and always will be. My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in the USA.”
“Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting,” she added.
Proud of this and always will be.
My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA.
Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting. https://t.co/TCOh3IHXlF
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 3, 2022
Musk closed his argument with two tweets. One of the tweets says, “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8.”
Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
The other reads, “You get what you pay for”. Musk termed it as a “spoiler alert”.
you get what you pay for
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
The Twitter Blue subscription launched widely almost a year ago as a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers and make other tweaks to the app, such as a different colour home screen icon. People have expressed their disapproval of the new Twitter version after it was announced. Musk’s proposal to charge Twitter users to have their accounts verified left many surprised and furious including celebrity users.
He also mentioned a secondary tag below the name for public figures, which is already the case for politicians.
