Twitter Blue is back after a pause but with a different pricing structure — $8 per month for those paying through web and for those paying through the App Store, it’s $11.
Among Blue’s additional features include the edit button, which has long been a feature requested by users but there are many who feel that the button may increase the potential for the spread of disinformation, if a tweet is altered after being widely shared. Besides the edit button, users get to upload 1080p videos, have access to reader mode, and, of course, sport the blue check mark.
Those who were subscribers to the old Twitter Blue package which came for $4.99/$2.99, they will need to subscribe again to keep its benefits and anyone who has signed up on iOS at the old $7.99 per month price will be automatically renewed at $11 per month.Earlier, a blue tick was used as a verification tool for high-profile accounts and it was given out by Twitter for free and only the company decided who got one.
Now, a blue check mark will be given after you pay a monthly fee and after your account has been reviewed. Though it’s unclear as to what the account review process involves, subscribers will need to verify a phone number.
Esther Crawford, a product lead at Twitter, has said in a tweet that “we’ve added a review step before applying a blue check mark to an account as one of our new steps to combat impersonation”. What kind of identity document will be required hasn’t been mentioned.
Meanwhile, some of the check marks will soon be replaced with either gold (for businesses) or grey (for others such as authorities) badges.
When the “revamped” Twitter Blue process began in November, many subscribed to it and some started impersonating big brands and celebrities. Many pretended to be Elon Musk himself. There was an instance when a user claimed to be the US pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
Musk has said that Twitter accounts which have been inactive for a certain period of time will be deleted and this has caused dismay among those who have lost their loved ones and these are people who had a presence on Twitter. Unlike Facebook, Twitter users cannot nominate someone to take control of their account after their death. Anyone with an existing blue check mark won’t lose it “at this time”, although this is something Musk says will happen in “a few months”.