After widespread criticism prompted Musk to nix a previous proposal to charge the site’s “blue checkmark” users $20 per month to retain their verified status, the Tesla CEO proposed a reimagined verification model on Tuesday—this time at a reduced, $8 per month rate—that included numerous features intended to end Twitter’s so-called “bullsh*t” lords and peasants’ system between verified users and those who are not.

“Power to the people!” Musk tweeted Tuesday afternoon announcing the proposed change. “Blue for $8/month.”

The proposal includes a wide array of features currently unavailable even to verified users on the website, including a priority tab in users’ replies; mentions and search (a feature that is “essential to defeat spam/scam,” Musk noted); the ability to post long video and audio; and “half as many ads” as are currently on the site.

Musk added the pricing scale would be “adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity,” and include an avenue for users to bypass paywalls at certain news sites for publishers “willing to work with us.”

Reaction to Musk’s proposal was muted, if not hostile.

Some users noted verification was not merely a way to arbitrarily levy a superior version of the service for a select group of users, but a means for the average user to verify that a person or news outlet was, indeed, who they said they were.

Others questioned whether the average American would be willing to shell out nearly $100 per year to use the service—a price equivalent to hosting a professional website on a service like WordPress, or twice the annual cost of an all-digital subscription to many major online outlets—during a period of record inflation in the U.S.

Other high-profile accounts argued Twitter should pay them for regularly providing content to the site and driving the traffic necessary to add value to the targeted advertising regularly displayed in users’ feeds.

“I have no issue with this at all,” Jesse Kelly, a conservative pundit, tweeted in response to Musk’s proposal. “That said, I won’t be paying $8 or any amount of money for Twitter. Twitter is a blank slate. The good accounts are the content that makes the slate good. Basically, Twitter needs me. I don’t need Twitter. Frankly, Twitter should pay ME.”

Musk’s efforts to compel users to pay for services on the site are not unique to Twitter. Notably, Tesla Motors requires a subscription-based service for many of their vehicles to access numerous basic features that are readily accessible on much more inexpensive vehicles, like phone connectivity.

However, there are already signs that the latest move by Twitter’s new CEO could potentially fall flat.

Most glaring of all is the fact Musk appears to essentially be increasing the price of a Twitter initiative: the platform’s existing $4.99 per month “Blue” subscription, which allows users to edit tweets, use non-fungible tokens as profile pictures, post high-quality video, and experience the feed with no ads.

According to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower obtained by the website TechCrunch Monday, Twitter’s mobile app—where people would supposedly purchase the service—generated just $6.4 million in worldwide consumer spending to date, representing a fraction of the more than $5 billion in revenues the company reported in 2021.

Newsweek has contacted Twitter’s press team for comment.