I'm not sure exactly how Leothreads works, but it sounds like a way to make simple updates on the blockchain. Sometimes I want to let people know I am am alive or tell the world when something funny comes to mind. They are all fleeting moments. Maybe that's what a thread is for.
I wouldn't pay 8 dollars a month for something that I already can do. Twitter must be offering something very special to expect eight dollars a month for verification. It seems like he is making it much more than a social network, but a business platform for exchanging money, commodities, goods and services cutting out the middle man. In that case maybe 8 dollars a month is worth it. Anyway I wonder if twitter will come up with some whitepaper explaining what they are really doing.