Freda D. Cuevas
The subscription will let users edit tweets after they’ve been published, upload higher quality videos and get a blue ‘verified’ checkmark.
Twitter is planning to launch a revamped version of its Blue subscription service, with new measures to try prevent misuse.
The subscription service was paused last month after a wave of impersonation accounts flooded the platform.
The company said it plans to relaunch Twitter Blue today (12 December) at $8 a month. However, the subscription has been raised to $11 a month for any iOS users.
It is uncertain why Twitter is charging iOS users extra for the subscription service, but The Information reports it could be a response to the 30pc revenue cut that Apple takes from iOS apps.
The new features available for subscribers include the ability to edit tweets after they’ve been published, upload videos in 1080p quality and get a blue “verified” checkmark.
A blue tick mark next to a username was previously free, but typically reserved for high-profile figures, companies and users who had been verified as trustworthy sources.
Soon after he took over the platform, Musk released a paid version of this blue tick, letting users pay to get verified in order to “give power to the people”.
This caused a chaotic period for the platform, as many users paid to get a blue tick and then changed their account names to impersonate notable figures or companies.
One user impersonated pharma giant Eli Lilly and tweeted that insulin was “now free”. The real Eli Lilly account responded on Twitter, apologising for the misleading message and linking to its actual account.
To prevent this issue, Twitter said its Blue subscribers will temporarily lose their blue checkmark if they change their handle, display name or profile photo. The users will get the blue tick back following an account review.
During the initial revamp of Twitter Blue, an ‘Official’ label started rolling out on some legacy verified accounts, to distinguish them from the wave of blue ticks on accounts that had not been verified.
This label was rolled back soon after and then rolled out again, causing much confusion on the platform.
Twitter said it plans to replace the official label with a gold checkmark for businesses, and a grey checkmark for government and “multilateral accounts”.
Meanwhile, singer Elton John has announced he is leaving Twitter due to concerns of misinformation.
The singer tweeted that he is saddened to see how “misinformation is now being used to divide our world”.
All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together. Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world.
I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked.— Elton John (@eltonofficial) December 9, 2022
John said his departure is in response to a “recent change in policy” at Twitter that will “allow misinformation to flourish”. The platform recently announced that it had stopped taking action against tweets breaching its Covid-19 misinformation policy, BBC reports.
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