We have been following the “series” of its acquisition for months. Twitter on Elon Musk he is the richest man in the world, who expressed interest in buying the platform for a considerable amount 43 billion dollars.

After several hurdles, ups and downs, Twitter was taken over by Musk, after which the mogul decided to make a grand entrance into his new business. holding… a washbasin.

Twitter HQ entrance – let it soak in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

Not only that, he tried to show “good morning” that a platform that idolizes microblogging will enter a new era under his leadership. That’s why top executives fired Twitter while at the same time reassuring the person in charge Commissioner for Industry of the European Commission Thierry Breton, that Twitter will continue to comply with strict EU regulations. on checking for illegal digital content.

A few days after Twitter became his property, Musk also dropped a “bomb” about his plans for the subscription part of the platform: for example, he announced that verified accounts (i.e. with a checkmark next to their name in a blue circle) to remain so, they will have to pay 8 dollars per month (instead of 4.99 paid until now), which is equivalent to $240 per year.

As expected, the above did not generate the most positive reactions, as … Twitter rebel for Twitter. Among those who expressed their dissatisfaction was the well-known horror author, Stephen King.

We need to pay our bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about 8 dollars?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

Specifically, King tweeted: “Twenty bucks a month to keep my blue tick? Come on, they should pay me. If it works, I did it.”

Someone quickly retorted, telling the writer that this was not an amount he couldn’t pay to get an answer: “It’s not about money, it’s about ethics.”

What followed was…live negotiations on the price of a subscription to Twitter; between the author and the “boss” of the platform.

Elon Musk had a trump card up his sleeve: “We have to pay the bills somehow! Twitter can’t rely entirely on ads,” he wrote in response to King’s tweet, continuing the counteroffer: “How about 8 dollars?”

We don’t know if this new price that Musk suggested was really a spontaneous idea, however a few hours later he announced that finally the monthly subscription for verified accounts would indeed be $8. To continue the series of tweets in which he struggled to explain the importance of this subscription and the “extras” associated with it, while “blessing the beard” of his decisions (“You get what you pay for” twitter), but also the platform itself: “Twitter is simply the most interesting place on the internet. That’s why you’re reading this tweet right now.”

The current system of lords and peasants on Twitter for whoever has or doesn’t have a blue tick is bullshit.

Power to the people! Blue for $8 per month.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

Theoretically, this is a strange confrontation between Musk and King, which we observed on the screens of our mobile devices, to some extent “saved” Twitter – even if he used it as a battleground – since a $20/month subscription would probably be a disaster for the future of the platform, which would probably cause many users to abandon it. However, this is probably already happening, because on the day that Twitter was taken over by Elon Musk, mastodon, a platform similar in logic to Twitter, but decentralized, free and open source, the number of users increased by 70,000 people.

Will Twitter go golden in Elon Musk’s hands like the rest of the billionaire’s business has, or will his name be tarnished by his constant eccentricities? Time will tell.

However, all of the above shows the mindset of Elon Musk, who chooses to act in every manifestation. BUT no sense of boundaries – confusing meetings in his office with public tweets – this seems to be taking over him from how she runs a “business” to how she turns out to have kids.

Everything, of course, stems from the very common but misguided notion “I do whatever I want with my money.” To paraphrase one of his own tweets, “What you do is what you wash” can sometimes apply. Not necessarily now, but in the future.