Celebrities react after proposal to pay Sh2,500 monthly for Twitter verification

Kenyans with verified Twitter accounts will soon join the rest of the world in paying a minimum fee to keep their verification badges on.

Verification badges are identifiers used by social media companies to confirm that an account is the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity or brand it represents.

US billionaire, Elon Musk, who recently bought Twitter, has directed his team to launch the revamped paid subscription model by November 7th or face the axe.

Elon Musk enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday carrying a kitchen sink.Getty Images Business Insider USA

If launched, users will have to pay $19.99 for the new subscription to keep their verification badges and unlock other premium features.

At the current exchange rates, this would see affected Kenyans pay Sh2,426 per month or Sh 29,121 per year.

Those who are already verified will have about 90 days to subscribe to the new model or risk losing the verification badges.

The proposal will cut across different users in Kenya, many of who are celebrities, journalists, politicians, and prominent figures.

“Verified Twitter users will have to pay $20 monthly to keep that blue checkmark if Elon Musk gets his way. Sign up within 90 days or lose it,” CNN International correspondent Larry Madowo shared on Twitter, kickstarting the conversation among Kenyans.

“What in God's good world is this?” said KTN news anchor Brian George.

“Seems like Only SC Ahmednasir Abdullahi will remain verified on Twitter in Kenya the way things are going,” commented Ahmed Mohamed Asmali.

Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai said he did not mind paying an extra charge to enjoy premium features.

"I have been paying $3 for my Twitter Blue. So $20 for Twitter verification with proper control on the other things shouldn’t be a bad thing," he posted.

Kiss 100 presenters Kamene Goro and Oga Obinna also reacted to the story, with Kamene welcoming the idea.

"Getting verification on other platforms such as Facebook, and Instagram is particularly easy, but getting Twitter verification…I see people with blue ticks on Twitter act like they are the president and now is only going to cost us Sh2000 to join you. Here we come,” she said.

On his part, Obinna said he is not a fan of the social media platform.