Hey Elon, no one cares about Twitter Blue

Despite what Elon Musk will have you believe, Twitter Blue is not as popular as he might have hoped.

Remember when Musk said it would initially cost $20 per month, then dropped the price to $8 after Stephen King said he would be ‘gone like Enron’ before paying such a steep subscription?

Fun times.

Twitter Blue report

A recent report by The Information suggests that only 180,000 people in the United States are subscribed to Twitter Blue, which is only 0.2% of the platform’s monthly users in January. ^[1]

In addition, those 180,000 US-based users make up approximately 62% of the total Twitter Blue subscriber count, of which there are only 290,000 around the world.

But if you take Musk’s word for it, Twitter “is trending to breakeven”. He was, however, quick to add that the platform is not financially stable yet:

To be extra clear, Twitter is definitely not financially healthy yet, but is trending to be so. Lots of work still needed to get there.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2023

Shortly after taking the reins, Musk said he wanted to generate $3 billion in revenue this year, with subscription revenue making up 50% of the platform’s intake.

As per a leaked Slack conversation from October 2022, Musk believed an uptick in subscribers “could help with conversions”. ^[2]

However, based on the $8 price tag (and taking into account some users pay $7 for an annual subscription, or $11 via app stores – Twitter Blue is only bringing in $27.8 million, give or take a few cents.

How Americans feel about Twitter

Meanwhile, The Harris Poll learned that most American citizens do not believe there is a rosy future on the cards for the social media platform. ^[3]

Approximately 63% of women surveyed were opposed to Musk’s ownership while 53% of Gen Zers believed the billionaire would hurt Twitter’s product quality.

Women in general and Gen Zers were also less likely to pay for a monthly subscription (only 28%). The report states there is hope for Musk’s vision, but largely among “older conservative males.”

“While a paywall looks challenging (in people’s stated opinions), when we look at the Twitter advertising pause, it’s important to listen to both narratives.

“Despite critics, many Twitter users are excited about Musk’s ownership and the prospects of greater freedom of speech. As a result, the overall profile might move to more male, older, and slightly more conservative.”

Twitter verification controversies

Twitter recently expanded Blue access to countries previously denied access to this wondrous feature, including Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

As for the original blue ticks – now referred to as Legacy Blue Verified – received pre-Musk-takeover, the new Chief Twit said it “is unfortunately deeply corrupted, so will sunset in a few months”.

And in other news, Matt Navarra, a social media analyst, on 3 February said Twitter is “reportedly emailing businesses offering a gold check mark for $1 000 per month.”

He shared a screenshot of the email on Twitter, which promises organisations of affiliation badges, access to an administration portal, as well as Tweet Boosting, and other features.

Twitter is reportedly emailing businesses offering gold check mark verification for $1000 PER MONTH!

And affiliate account verification for $50 each per month pic.twitter.com/hohTPKLKdi

— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) February 3, 2023

A second screenshot showed the official Product account reportedly telling a user the fee is $1 000 per month.

ALSO READ: Affiliate badges: Twitter may soon show your employer’s logo on personal accounts

Sources:

^{[1] The Information Report
[2] Leaked Slack conversation
[3] The Harris Poll}