Twitter Blue, the subscription service offering the now-controversial blue checkmark, will relaunch on Monday with a “vetting process” designed to prevent impersonations on the site. The checkmark and other features will cost $8 a month via the web and $11 per month via iOS.
Twitter Blue relaunching on Monday starting on $8 a month
Twitter tweeted on Saturday that subscribers to Twitter Blue will now receive the blue checkmark, but only after their account has been reviewed. The company said in a tweet thread: “When you subscribe you’ll get Edit Tweet, 1080p video uploads, reader mode, and a blue checkmark (after your account has been reviewed).”
It is not clear what the account review process will involve, but an image included in the thread mentions the need for a “verified phone number”. This suggests that the review process will involve verifying the user’s identity in some way, although it is not yet clear what form this verification will take.
The previous pay-for-verification setup, introduced by Twitter owner Elon Musk, had critics arguing that the blue checkmark had become meaningless. Traditionally, the verification process involved submitting a government-issued ID and providing evidence that the user was a “prominently recognized individual”.
In response to the chaos caused by impersonators using the blue checkmark, Musk tweeted a plan in late November that would see companies receiving a gold verification checkmark and government entities receiving a gray one. He said at the time: “Blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.”
Saturday’s thread from Twitter confirmed that the plan for the gold and gray checkmarks for businesses and government would be going into effect. It also said that Twitter Blue subscribers “will be able to change their handle, display name or profile photo, but if they do they’ll temporarily lose the blue checkmark until their account is reviewed again”.
Twitter didn’t give any further information about the verification review process. However, the company’s tweet thread did reveal some additional details about the features available to Twitter Blue subscribers. These include being “rocketed to the top of replies, mentions and search”, seeing half the ads, and being able to post longer videos.
Twitter Blue subscribers who already signed up via iOS for the earlier $8 a month price will receive a notification about the new $11 monthly iOS cost and can choose to subscribe via the web instead, at the $8 rate, according to Twitter product lead Esther Crawford. Crawford also confirmed that the iOS and web versions would offer the same features, and that Android users can purchase on the web and use Twitter Blue on their devices.
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(via)
