For those unaware, the ‘Blue Tick’ is a verification badge given by Twitter to help users identify prominent and popular people on the platform, and let them know that the account of public interest is authentic. Previously, the blue checkmark badge was only given to the verified accounts of government organizations, celebrities, politicians, entertainment, and public figures. The revamped ‘Blue Tick’ subscription service was pushed to Twitter via version 9.34.3 of its iOS client on the App Store. According to the iOS app update’s release notes, users can get “Twitter Blue” for $7.99 per month, if they sign up for a Blue checkmark. “Power to the people: Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow,” reads the release notes. The popular microblogging platform disclosed a list of features that the blue tick account will be getting soon in the future such as lesser ads, longer videos, and priority ranking for quality content posted on the site.
Half the ads & much better ones: Since you’re supporting Twitter in the battle against the bots, we’re going to reward you with half the ads and make them twice as relevant, Post longer videos: You’ll finally be able to post longer videos to Twitter. Priority ranking for quality content: Your content will get priority ranking in replies, mentions, and search. This helps lower the visibility of scams, spam, and bots.
Despite the app update, the new Twitter Blue plan is not yet live, according to a Twitter product manager. The microblogging platform is doing “real-time” testing and subscribers of Twitter Blue will get automatically verified with a blue check mark when the plan goes live. To start with, the availability of Twitter Blue with verification is currently available on iOS in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Twitter’s new owner and CEO Elon Musk too said in a tweet on Saturday that the ‘Blue Tick’ subscription service would be made available worldwide “as soon as we confirm it’s working well in the initial set of countries and we have the translation work done.” However, there is no clarity if the current Twitter Blue subscribers will lose their blue checkmark if they choose not to pay $7.99 per month. Ever since Musk has taken over Twitter last week, the company is working on a host of new features that it is planning to bring in future updates. He said that “Twitter will soon add the ability to attach long-form text to tweets, ending the absurdity of notepad screenshots.” Besides this, also “creator monetization for all forms of content” is coming very soon. Musk has also suggested the ability to edit tweets, which was previously available only to paid subscribers of Twitter Blue, shall be made available to all Twitter users in the future.
