After several delays, Twitter is finally relaunching its Twitter Blue subscription on Monday, with new pricing. The new subscription will cost $8 per month if you subscribe on the web and $11 if you’re accessing the subscribe-only features on iOS. The company has yet not confirmed how much Twitter Blue will cost on Android. The subscribers will get a blue verified checkmark next to their name, along with the ability to edit tweets, upload videos in 1080p, and a ‘reader mode’ option, that removes distractions from the screen for an easier read.
Recently, Twitter CEO Elon Musk called out Apple saying said that the tech giant levies a 30 per cent ‘secret’ tax on developers who publish their apps on the App Store. The update is likely to offset the App Store commission on its operating system for iPhones and iPads. The original Blue subscription was priced at $7.99.
While announcing the relaunch, Twitter also revealed some upcoming features for the subscribers such as the ability to post longer videos and fewer ads. Blue subscribers will also get priority in searches and tweets visibility.
Contrary to the earlier Twitter Blue launch that led to chaos on the micro-blogging platform, Twitter paid verification system looks more systematic this time. The musk-owned company says users will the blue verified checkmark only after their account has been reviewed. However, there’s no information about what that reviewing process will look like or whether users must share identity proof to prove authenticity. Subscribers will be able to change their handle, display name, or profile photo, but will temporarily lose the blue checkmark until their account is reviewed again.
Twitter also says it will begin replacing the “official” label with a gold checkmark for businesses, and a grey checkmark for government and multilateral accounts. The company rolled out an “official” label under government and organizations pages after Twitter Blue launched in October when a number of Blue subscribers with verification mark changed their user names to impersonate officials and big companies.
A user created a fake Nintendo account and posted an image of Mario flipping the bird while some other user impersonated the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and posted a tweet saying that insulin is now free. Eventually, Twitter ended up rolling back the feature.
