Elon Musk has announced that the Twitter Blue service will come with a monthly cost of USD 8. Twitter Blue includes the coveted verified badge. Twitter’s new chief, on Tuesday, said that he intends to boost subscriptions and make social media networks less reliant on ads.

The verified badge, which is essentially a blue tick, means that Twitter has confirmed that the account belongs to a person or business claiming it. The service is currently free for all, however, this would be the first time that users will be required to pay a fee to keep the verified badge.

The 51-year-old Tesla boss took to his Twitter account to share his thoughts on the new subscription plan. In a tweet aimed at the privileged holders of the verified badge, Musk said that the price will be adjusted based on the country and purchasing power parity.

"Twitter's current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for USD 8/month," Musk said in a tweet, adding that the price will be adjusted by "country proportionate to purchasing power parity."

Musk in his subsequent tweets went on to enumerate the services that will be offered to subscribers. Musk said that subscribers will get priority in replies, mentions, & search which according to him is essential to combat spam and scam.

Subscribers will also be able to post long videos and audio and will see minimal ads. Besides, publishers who are willing to work with Twitter will get a paywall bypass. This, according to Musk, will give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators.

In the same thread, Musk said that there will be a secondary tag below the name of public figures which is already visible on the profiles of politicians.

The SpaceX Chief took over Twitter for USD 44 billion last week. Ever since his takeover, the billionaire has sacked several top executives and the micro-blogging site is undergoing a massive upheaval.