Shortly after Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, reports suggested that verified Twitter users will have to pay a fee to keep their blue tick, which authenticates the identity of the account holder.
Since then, the Internet is abuzz with speculations. Bestselling author Stephen King also expressed his disappointment over the anticipated fee and prompted Elon Musk to respond.
“$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron," the author tweeted.
Replying to him, the Tesla CEO went on to negotiate with the author and wrote, “We need to pay the bills somehow. Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?”
The exchange between the two soon went viral and sparked a meme fest on Twitter.
Some users compared it to the way customers indulge in bargaining with street vendors.
Referring to the budget-friendly flea market in Delhi's Sarojini Nagar, another joked, “Bhaiya Sarojini mein $2 mein mil jaata hai...dhang se lagao. [Bro, we get it for $2 in Sarojini Nagar market. Please look at the price.]”
“Waiting for ‘chal na tera na mera' ‘itne par final karte hain'[Hey, let us reach a middle ground],” a reaction read.
One user quipped, “Great to see negotiations happening on Twitter itself.. transparency.”
“5 dollars and you have a deal,” a few offered.
One churned out a meme with a reference to the iconic 2000 comedy film Hera Pheri.
Mr Musk, who is now the "Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator", earlier announced that the verification process for Twitter accounts was being revamped. However, he did not provide any further details.
In his subsequent tweet, Elon Musk wrote that he will explain the rationale behind charging for the verification badge saying that it is the “only way to defeat the bots & trolls”.
According to reports, users would have to shell out $4.99 a month to retain their badges.
