Elon Musk says people who subscribe to Twitter's premium service Blue should be able to pay with 'joke' cryptocurrency Dogecoin days after becoming firm's biggest shareholder
- Musk made the suggestion Saturday, with one Dogecoin worth $0.16
- Twitter Blue costs $2.99 a month, and offers extra features to subscribers
- Includes 'preview' button that lets users see and alter tweet for 30 seconds
- Musk bought 9.2% of Twitter last week, it was confirmed
- Has since mooted a series of dramatic suggestions for social media network
- Twitter's share price has surged, but firm's progressive staff are outraged
Elon Musk has suggested that people who subscribe to Twitter's premium service Blue be allowed to pay with joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
Musk - who became Twitter's largest shareholder last week - made the suggestion on Saturday as part of a slew of proposed 'improvements' to the social media site.
Pitching a potential idea, Musk said: 'Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark.'
One respondent asked for the cost to be made cheaper, claiming that $3 feeds an entire family in the South American nation.
That prompted Musk to respond again, writing: 'Maybe even an option to pay in Doge?'
Musk has long enjoyed teasing his 80 million followers with the cryptocurrency, whose logo is a Shiba Inu dog, and which is widely regarded as a joke.
Unlike Bitcoin - the most valuable form of crypto, which is worth around $43,320 as of April 10, Dogecoin is currently worth $0.16.
The Tesla CEO was also named to Twitter's board of directors Tuesday after tweeting several polls on hot-button issues within the company, including a question about whether it should implement an edit button.
Twitter Blue, launched in June 2021, is Twitter's first subscription service and offers 'exclusive access to premium features' on a monthly subscription basis, Twitter says. It is available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
They include bookmarks, and a 'preview' feature which lets subscribers see what a tweet will look like, and undo any errors, for 30 seconds before it goes live.
The social media network confirmed it is finally working on a long-requested edit button last week, after Musk suggested that too.
In a Twitter post, the head of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc suggested that users who sign up for Twitter Blue should pay significantly less than the current $2.99 a month, and should get an authentication checkmark as well as an option to pay in local currency.
'Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn't get checkmark for 60 days (watch for credit card chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,' Musk said in a tweet.
'And no ads,' Musk suggested. 'The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.'
Musks musings came after he tweeted several polls to his millions of followers on the social media platform on Saturday.
The outspoken Tesla CEO, known for his social media antics, initially asked if he should transform the company's Silicon Valley headquarters into a homeless shelter, before suggesting the removal of the letter 'w' in Twitter.
In the first post, Musk - who purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant earlier this week and was subsequently named to the company's board of directors - seemingly took aim at the company's lax remote working policies, saying he came up with the plan 'since no one shows up anyway.'
So far, the results of the 24-hour poll, posted at 9.30pm ET by the billionaire businessman, suggests overwhelming support for the prospective undertaking - with 91.1 percent of more than 923,459 respondents voting in favor of the plan.
The second tweet about deleting 'w' saw Musk give two options without no as an answer, with 55.8 percent saying 'yes' and 44.2 percent 'of course' of 445,158 votes to date.
It comes weeks after Twitter brass - who offered staffers the option of working from home 'forever' during the pandemic - reopened its offices March 15, with remote work remaining an option for staffers.
'It’s been almost two years since we closed our offices and travel and I’m excited to announce that we’re ready to fully open up business travel and all our offices around the world!' Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote in a note to employees posted to Twitter March 3.
'Business travel is back effective immediately, and office openings will start on March 15,' the exec wrote.
In the statement, Agrawal, who was promoted to CEO of the San Francisco-based company in November, said that he would be honoring a policy put in place by former head exec Jack Dorsey during the early days of the pandemic, that said staffers could work remotely 'forever' if they wanted to.
'Our top priority since the beginning of the pandemic has been to keep you all safe and this will continue,' Agrawal wrote.
'Now we are returning to a stage where you’re living your lives, adjusting to local health guidelines, and deciding what works best for you.
'So, the decisions about where you work, whether you feel safe travelling for business, and what events you attend, should be yours,' the exec added, in a sentence this time set in bold.
'As we open back up, our approach remains the same,' Agrawal, 37, went on.
'Wherever you feel most productive and creative is where you will work and that include working from home full-time forever,' the CEO wrote, in another bolded sentence.
'Office every day? That works too. Some days in the office, some days from home? Of course.'
Agrawal, however, warned that 'distributed working will be much, much harder' and said 'there will be lots of challenges' amid the new policy.
Agrawal went on to tout the advantages of having staffers in the same physical space, where they can experience the 'company culture,' and said that visits to the office will 'bring that culture to life in such a powerful way.'
The CEO then provided a sign-off that seemed hopeful of staffers' desire to return to in-person work.
'I look forward to seeing you all back at the office or perhaps at an event, somewhere in your home city, or mine?'
'Cant' wait... Parag.'
More than a month later, as Silicon Valley's tech workers are starting to filter back to the office as Covid-19 cases plummet, it looks as if the CEO's faith in staffers' desire to return to work in-person was misplaced - something new board member Musk seemed to hone in on with his evidently mocking post.
Google, for instance, told employees last month that it would begin requiring employees to return in person at least three days a week - a policy that went into effect this past week
Apple similarly announced that by April 11, employees will have to work from the office at least one day a week.
Twitter, meanwhile, has not issued any in-person requirements for its staffers - a decision Musk seemingly panned in his post.
Prior to posting the poll, Musk also suggested further changes to Twitter's business models in a series of tweets suggesting tweaks to the platform's premium Blue service, including a cheaper subscription price, banning ads and offering the option to pay in cryptocurrency.
The service, which offers users access to additional features, like an undo button and ad-free news articles, currently costs $2.99 a month.
'Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn't get checkmark for 60 days (watch for credit card chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,' Musk wrote Saturday.
'And no ads,' the South African mogul added. 'The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.'
Musk also declared that 'Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark.'
Musk, the world's wealthiest man, ruffled feathers this week when it was announced he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant - making him the platform's largest shareholder - and was joining the company's board of directors.
Twitter entered into its board membership agreement with Musk on Monday, an SEC report revealed.
After submitting the regulatory filing Tuesday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Musk's board membership on the social media, alleging the billionaire brings 'great value' to the company.
'I'm excited to share that we're appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board,' Agrawal wrote.
'He's both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!'
Musk responded to the CEO, saying: 'Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!'
Other board members seemed receptive to Musk - who has 80 million Twitter followers - joining their ranks, with several issuing welcome messages online, including platform founder Jack Dorsey.
'I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it,' Dorsey tweeted. 'Parag and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team.'
Board chair and Salesforce Co-CEO Bret Taylor echoed the sentiment, saying: 'Welcome to the Twitter board, @elonmusk! We are all excited to work with you and build the future of Twitter together.'
Taylor's post was retweeted by fellow board members Mimi Alemayehou, Senior Vice President for Public-Private Partnership at Mastercard; Martha Lane Fox, Founder and Chairperson of Lucky Voice Group; and Stanford University professor Dr. Fei-Fei Li.
Omid Kordestani, the board's executive chairman and a current member, wrote: 'Welcome @elonmusk!'
The four remaining board members - Former World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Invoia Capital general partner Patrick Pichette, 1stdibs.com Inc. CEO David Rosenblatt, and Egon Durban, Co-CEO of Silver Lake - did not publicly comment on Musk's appointment to the board.
None of the members immediately responded to DailyMail.com's requests for comment.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtMTA3MDU2MDEvRWxvbi1NdXNrLXNheXMtcGVvcGxlLXN1YnNjcmliZS1Ud2l0dGVyLUJsdWUtYWJsZS1wYXktRG9nZUNvaW4uaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5
2022-04-10 21:11:41Z
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