Mark Cuban says he could get people to pay $100 for Twitter’s blue checkmarks—Elon Musk’s strategy is a ‘huge mistake’:- Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, has expressed his dissatisfaction with Twitter’s new subscription protocol. The platform recently removed blue checkmarks from numerous verified accounts, and Cuban took to Twitter to present his ideas and grievances.
Cuban suggested that Twitter CEO Elon Musk missed an opportunity to increase the number of users paying for Twitter Blue’s monthly subscription of $8 by offering more incentives. He stated that there were multiple ways Musk could have requested legacy checks for $100, and egalitarianism was the worst option.
Musk removed blue checkmarks from previously verified accounts when launching the subscription service and made them available to anyone willing to pay. Cuban suggested that this move dampened their value, as verification is now less exclusive, credible, and desirable.
Cuban decided to pay for a Twitter Blue subscription as an experiment after his follower count and reach declined considerably over the past few months. However, he revealed that paying the annual contract did not change anything.
According to internet traffic analyst Similarweb, 2.6 million people visited Twitter Blue’s sales page in March, with only 116,000 people, less than 5% of that traffic, purchasing a subscription that month.
Cuban wrote in another recent tweet that Twitter’s new approach to legacy checks is a huge mistake. He suggested a few solutions, which he believes are smarter ways to sell blue checkmarks for $100 per year, including:
- Twitter artificial intelligence system that monitors impostor celebrity accounts for you
- Twitter promotes $10,000 worth of tweets from a non-profit organization of your choice
- Unlimited characters for your tweets
Cuban’s $100 figure is roughly equivalent to the $96 that Twitter Blue users would pay in a year.
Twitter became popular because it was a platform where anyone could interact with anyone, and verified sources could keep people updated in real time. Musk’s implementation of Twitter Blue could make both elements harder for many users, particularly when they’re no longer sure who they’re actually speaking with.
Twitter has become an essential platform for communication and news-sharing, as it allows users to interact with anyone, from friends and family to politicians and celebrities.
The platform’s verification system, which granted users a blue checkmark next to their name to indicate their authenticity, was designed to provide users with a way to verify the identity of the people they were interacting with.
However, the recent changes to Twitter’s verification system, implemented by CEO Elon Musk, have sparked concerns about the platform’s integrity. Musk removed blue checkmarks from previously verified users and made them available to anyone willing to pay for Twitter Blue’s $8 monthly subscription.
While this move may have been intended to generate revenue for the platform, it has had unintended consequences for the authenticity and credibility of Twitter.
By making the blue checkmarks available to anyone who pays, Musk has effectively made them less exclusive and desirable, which could undermine the value of the verification system.
Users who previously relied on the blue checkmarks to verify the identity of the people they were interacting with may now be uncertain about who they’re actually speaking with, which could erode trust in the platform.
This loss of trust could be particularly damaging for verified sources, such as journalists and politicians, who rely on Twitter to communicate with their followers and share news in real time.
If users no longer trust that the people they’re interacting with are who they say they are, they may be less likely to engage with verified sources, which could limit the reach and impact of their messages.
To address these concerns, Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, has suggested several solutions that he believes could make the blue checkmarks more valuable and useful for users.
For example, he proposes that Twitter could use artificial intelligence to monitor impostor celebrity accounts, promote tweets from nonprofits, or allow unlimited characters in tweets, all for a fee of $100 per year.
While Cuban’s proposals may be well-intentioned, they may not be sufficient to address the underlying problems with Twitter’s verification system. The issue is not simply that the blue checkmarks have lost their value, but that users are no longer sure who they’re interacting with, which could erode trust in the platform as a whole.
To regain users’ trust, Twitter may need to implement more rigorous verification procedures that go beyond the blue checkmarks. For example, the platform could require users to verify their identity through government-issued IDs or other forms of documentation, or it could use advanced biometric technologies to authenticate users’ identities.
Ultimately, the key to restoring trust in Twitter will be to ensure that users feel confident that the people they’re interacting with are who they say they are.
This may require a more comprehensive approach to verification that takes into account the unique challenges and opportunities presented by social media platforms. By doing so, Twitter can reclaim its position as a trusted and valuable platform for communication and news-sharing, both now and in the future.
Despite acknowledging Twitter’s shortcomings, Cuban is not retreating from the platform. He called Twitter unique and right now irreplaceable and expressed hope that the social media giant could reclaim its former power and popularity.
According to Cuban, Twitter is still the best game in town for many different types of communication. He believes that if you look at Twitter on a 20-year horizon, the past six months are just the preseason, and it’s not hard to recapture what was.
In conclusion, Cuban has voiced his dissatisfaction with Twitter’s new subscription protocol, suggesting that Musk missed an opportunity to offer more incentives to increase the number of users paying for the service.
He believes that Musk’s decision to remove blue checkmarks from previously verified accounts and make them available to anyone willing to pay dampened their value, as verification is now less exclusive, credible, and desirable.
However, Cuban still sees Twitter as unique and irreplaceable, and he hopes that the platform can reclaim its former power and popularity.
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