Stephen King Compares Elon Musk To Tom Sawyer Whitewashing Fence

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        Stephen King Just Ripped Elon Musk With A Classic Literary Comparison—And It's Spot On
    

        Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images; Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images
    
The horror legend, who has taken issue with Musk for implementing a monthly charge for verified accounts, aptly compared him to Tom Sawyer.
By Winn Sioux Christnot-PetersNov 04, 2022
Winn Sioux Christnot-Peters

	Winn Sioux Christnot-Peters is a writer/web designer and aspiring librarian based in Maine. When not writing, they devote much of their time to multiple non-profit organizations, largely focusing on LGBTQ+ rights and animal welfare. During rare moments of free time Winn enjoys video and tabletop games, as well as various nerdy fiber crafts such as crocheting (mainly amigurumi Pokémon, cat toys, and blankets) and counted cross stitch.
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Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, he has been making a lot of changes. The most recent is a plan to charge $8 (formerly $20) per month for verified users to keep their verification.
Most users who are verified are public figures of some kind: authors, journalists, politicians, actors, etc... Many of these people are part of what draws people to use Twitter—keeping up with news coming directly from their favorite celebrities.
The verification process and blue checkmark next to a verified user's name came about after Twitter was sued by Tony La Russa after someone impersonated him on the site.
Verification is meant to indicate the person you are interacting with on the platform really is who they say they are and make fraud and scams much more difficult to perpetuate. 
The verification serves the public more than the verified individual or entity.
Musk is now asking those public figures whose identities have been verified by Twitter to pay to keep that verification.
\u201cChief Twit's new theme song:\n\n "Money for nothin' and your checks for fee!"\u201d
 — Paulette Feeney (@Paulette Feeney)
        1667336326
Stephen King disagreed with Musk's decision to charge for verification since Musk made the announcement—most recently comparing Musk to Tom Sawyer when he convinced his friends to do his work for him and pay him for the privilege. 
Celebrities on Twitter generate content and draw users to the platform which generates revenue for Musk.
\u201cMusk makes me think of Tom Sawyer, who is given the job of whitewashing a fence as punishment. Tom cons his friends into doing the chore for him, and getting them to pay for the privilege. That's what Musk wants to do with Twitter. No, no, no.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967
@KeepPeaceNoWar/Twitter
\u201c@StephenKing @DonLew87 Yes, but Tom Sawyer was far more charming and had a soul.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967

\u201c@StephenKing\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967

\u201c@Schnablonsky @Maggie_Nickson @StephenKing Maybe if Musk hadn\u2019t paid three times it\u2019s value for Twitter, he could make ends meet with advertising. But a bad business decision has him in a deep hole.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967
Some remarked on Musk's apparent lack of understanding of social media.
\u201c@StephenKing @BlueMomofTwo He has a fundamental misunderstanding of social media. We, the users, are not customers. We, the users, are the product. The advertisers are the customers. He\u2019s working hard to lose both.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967

\u201c@Pleightx @caslernoel @elonmusk\u201d
 — NoelCaslerComedy\ud83c\udf19 (@NoelCaslerComedy\ud83c\udf19)
        1667571275
\u201c@StephenKing Verification is needed for professionals, personalities and importantly journalists. It'll end up with people not being able to trust a source. \nI think he doesn't understand difference between twitter blue and twitter blue tick.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967
\u201c@StephenKing I totally agree. Twitter relies on writers & journalists for \u201cfree\u201d credible content, breaking news etc. If people can pay for verification, I see no sense in having the blue check mark. I also won\u2019t contribute content to a platform I have to pay for. Maybe Twitter should pay us.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967

\u201c@elonmusk\u201d
 — Elon Musk (@Elon Musk)
        1667572100
Some seemed bound and determined not to see why Musk's decision to charge for verification was a problem, though.
\u201c@Merica_USA1 @StephenKing Stephen King writes books that millions want to read. Costco charges you for the book.\n\nStephen King writes tweets that millions want to read. Elon charges Stephen King for the tweets. \n\nSee the difference?\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967

\u201c@midnightriderV2 @StephenKing Stephen King doesn't care about paying $8, what worries him is that people like you or me have to pay it\nThat's called "empathy", you should learn to have it\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967

\u201c@kdollsweety @StephenKing If a checkmark got me 7M followers for $8/month I'd be all over it. He has 7M followers because he's STEPHEN KING and his ability to each 50M people is the moneymaker for Twitter, not his $8. That should be obvious\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967
\u201c@CoryAdams85 @StephenKing He is literally saying your tweets have greater impact and value if you pay.  Which will devalue the power of \u201cfree speech\u201d\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967
\u201cIf it's true that accounts not paying $8/mo will be shadowbanned or deboosted, just remember you can always get your favorite content contributors sent straight to your notifications. Check the '\ud83d\udd14' in their profiles so you won't miss their latest tweets.\u201d
 — Paul Leigh 'Some Rascal on the Internet' \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Paul Leigh 'Some Rascal on the Internet' \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6)
        1667408212
\u201c@aaron_kinney @StephenKing It\u2019s crazy looking back on when Starbucks gave drinks away for free, then suddenly charged $8 after removing the caffeine\u2026 oh\u2026 wait.\u201d
 — Stephen King (@Stephen King)
        1667436967
Musk intends for his changes to fund Twitter after his $44 billion acquisition of the company.
But if it drives away many of the people generating the content that brings people to the platform in the first place, there's a chance it could backfire spectacularly.
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Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, he has been making a lot of changes. The most recent is a plan to charge $8 (formerly $20) per month for verified users to keep their verification.

Most users who are verified are public figures of some kind: authors, journalists, politicians, actors, etc... Many of these people are part of what draws people to use Twitter—keeping up with news coming directly from their favorite celebrities.

The verification process and blue checkmark next to a verified user's name came about after Twitter was sued by Tony La Russa after someone impersonated him on the site.

Verification is meant to indicate the person you are interacting with on the platform really is who they say they are and make fraud and scams much more difficult to perpetuate.

The verification serves the public more than the verified individual or entity.

Musk is now asking those public figures whose identities have been verified by Twitter to pay to keep that verification.

\u201cChief Twit's new theme song:\n\n "Money for nothin' and your checks for fee!"\u201d
— Paulette Feeney (@Paulette Feeney) 1667336326

Stephen King disagreed with Musk's decision to charge for verification since Musk made the announcement—most recently comparing Musk to Tom Sawyer when he convinced his friends to do his work for him and pay him for the privilege.

Celebrities on Twitter generate content and draw users to the platform which generates revenue for Musk.

\u201cMusk makes me think of Tom Sawyer, who is given the job of whitewashing a fence as punishment. Tom cons his friends into doing the chore for him, and getting them to pay for the privilege. That's what Musk wants to do with Twitter. No, no, no.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

@KeepPeaceNoWar/Twitter

\u201c@StephenKing @DonLew87 Yes, but Tom Sawyer was far more charming and had a soul.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@StephenKing\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@Schnablonsky @Maggie_Nickson @StephenKing Maybe if Musk hadn\u2019t paid three times it\u2019s value for Twitter, he could make ends meet with advertising. But a bad business decision has him in a deep hole.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

Some remarked on Musk's apparent lack of understanding of social media.

\u201c@StephenKing @BlueMomofTwo He has a fundamental misunderstanding of social media. We, the users, are not customers. We, the users, are the product. The advertisers are the customers. He\u2019s working hard to lose both.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@Pleightx @caslernoel @elonmusk\u201d
— NoelCaslerComedy\ud83c\udf19 (@NoelCaslerComedy\ud83c\udf19) 1667571275

\u201c@StephenKing Verification is needed for professionals, personalities and importantly journalists. It'll end up with people not being able to trust a source. \nI think he doesn't understand difference between twitter blue and twitter blue tick.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@StephenKing I totally agree. Twitter relies on writers & journalists for \u201cfree\u201d credible content, breaking news etc. If people can pay for verification, I see no sense in having the blue check mark. I also won\u2019t contribute content to a platform I have to pay for. Maybe Twitter should pay us.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@elonmusk\u201d
— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1667572100

Some seemed bound and determined not to see why Musk's decision to charge for verification was a problem, though.

\u201c@Merica_USA1 @StephenKing Stephen King writes books that millions want to read. Costco charges you for the book.\n\nStephen King writes tweets that millions want to read. Elon charges Stephen King for the tweets. \n\nSee the difference?\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@midnightriderV2 @StephenKing Stephen King doesn't care about paying $8, what worries him is that people like you or me have to pay it\nThat's called "empathy", you should learn to have it\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@kdollsweety @StephenKing If a checkmark got me 7M followers for $8/month I'd be all over it. He has 7M followers because he's STEPHEN KING and his ability to each 50M people is the moneymaker for Twitter, not his $8. That should be obvious\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201c@CoryAdams85 @StephenKing He is literally saying your tweets have greater impact and value if you pay. Which will devalue the power of \u201cfree speech\u201d\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

\u201cIf it's true that accounts not paying $8/mo will be shadowbanned or deboosted, just remember you can always get your favorite content contributors sent straight to your notifications. Check the '\ud83d\udd14' in their profiles so you won't miss their latest tweets.\u201d
— Paul Leigh 'Some Rascal on the Internet' \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Paul Leigh 'Some Rascal on the Internet' \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1667408212

\u201c@aaron_kinney @StephenKing It\u2019s crazy looking back on when Starbucks gave drinks away for free, then suddenly charged $8 after removing the caffeine\u2026 oh\u2026 wait.\u201d
— Stephen King (@Stephen King) 1667436967

Musk intends for his changes to fund Twitter after his $44 billion acquisition of the company.

But if it drives away many of the people generating the content that brings people to the platform in the first place, there's a chance it could backfire spectacularly.

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Stephen King Just Ripped Elon Musk With A Classic Literary Comparison—And It's Spot On

The horror legend, who has taken issue with Musk for implementing a monthly charge for verified accounts, aptly compared him to Tom Sawyer.

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