Twitter Blue Tick Price: Elon Musk-owned Twitter has rolled out a $7.99 monthly subscription fee for verified users starting November 5. The rollout begins as an update on iOS in 5 countries -the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The updated iOS version is 9.34.3. The subscription has been launched for iOS users only and is yet to be announced for Android users.
“Starting today, we’re adding great new features to Twitter Blue, and have more on the way soon. Get Twitter Blue for $7.99/month if you sign up now. Blue checkmark: Power to the people: Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow,” said Twitter in an App Store update.
It also said that the verified users will get various features including half the ads but more relevant than before. “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,” it said.
The verified or blue tick owners will be able to post longer videos and their content will get a priority ranking in replies, mentions and searches. “This helps lower the visibility of scams, spam, and bots,” said Twitter.
While the update is visible on App Store, Twitter employee Esther Crawford tweeted saying yesterday that the new Blue isn’t live yet and the sprint to Twitter’s launch continues but some folks may see updates because Twitter is testing and pushing changes in real-time.
The iOS Twitter app also shows a price of Rs 469 for a blue check in India. However, since the subscription is yet to be rolled out in the country, it’s not clear whether the same is the correct pricing or not.
The change will represent the end of Twitter’s current verification system, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonations of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Before the planned overhaul, Twitter had about 4,23,000 verified accounts, many of them rank-and-file journalists from around the globe that the company verified regardless of how many followers they had.
The update Twitter made to the iOS version of its app does not mention verification as part of the new blue check system.
The change comes a day after Twitter began laying off workers to cut costs and as more companies are pausing advertising on the platform as a cautious corporate world waits to see how it will operate under its new owner. About half of the company’s staff of 7,500 was let go, tweeted Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity.
Musk tweeted late Friday that there was no choice but to cut jobs when the company is losing over $4M/day. He did not provide details on the daily losses at Twitter and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months’ pay as a severance.
(With agency inputs)
