--- title: "Elon Musk Pleads With Stephen King to Pay for Blue Checkmark" description: "Twitter CEO Elon Musk pleaded with famed American author Stephen King to pay at least $8 to keep his blue checkmark." date: "2022-11-01" modified: "2022-11-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-pleads-stephen-king-blue-checkmark" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Pleads With Stephen King to Pay for Blue Checkmark ![Twitter CEO Elon Musk pleaded with famed American author Stephen King to pay at least $8 to keep his blue checkmark.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Pay to Tweet Tesla CEO and self-proclaimed "Chief Twit" Elon Musk has completed his [acquisition of Twitter]() — and he isn't wasting any time in making some big changes to the platform. As [*The Verge* first reported]() over the weekend, Musk told Twitter employees they had to build a paid verification system — said to cost between $5 and $20 per month — or leave the company altogether. The fee is meant to allow users to keep their verification badge, a controversial move that some of the platform's most prominent users have publicly balked at. "$20 a month to keep my blue check?" famed horror author and chronic tweeter Stephen King [tweeted](). "F\*ck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron." "We need to pay the bills somehow!" Musk [fired back](), comically pleading with King for a financial contribution. "Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?" ## Defeating Bots The episode corroborates the view that Musk hasn't fully thought through his new plans for the platform, even going as far as pulling [more than 50 Tesla employees](), including Autopilot engineers, to help out at the ailing social media property. King's sentiments echo countless other users who were appalled at the decision. Why would they have to foot the bill, paying the richest man in the world to keep their blue check mark? As [many have pointed out](), paying to get verified could have plenty of unintended consequences as well, potentially laying out the red carpet for the same bots and spammers Musk claims to be trying to defeat. Musk, for his part, has yet to fully address the controversy. Besides, he's been busy — from [attending a celebrity Halloween party]() to watching his space company [launch a mega rocket](). "I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented," Musk [wrote]() in his salvo to King. "It is the only way to defeat the bots and trolls." Musk has a steep uphill battle ahead of him — turning Twitter into a profitable and private business will be anything but simple. But begging some of the most noteworthy personalities on the platform to pony up cash for a little blue check mark doesn't seem to be a winning strategy. **More on Musk:** [*Elon Musk Brings in Tesla Engineers to Review Twitter Code*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()