Elon Musk is determined to recoup his investment.
Starting on April 1st, Twitter users who were once verified and currently hold blue checkmarks confirming their identity must sign up for the paid Twitter Blue service to remain authenticated.
The news comes after many months of warnings from both Musk and Twitter’s official accounts, and now it seems the process will finally go into effect. Under the previous free program, celebrities, officials, journalists, and others the company considered notable could request verification. The $8-per-month subscription service, Twitter Blue, came under fire soon after it was launched last year due to the number of accounts simply impersonating others. The service was suspended but relaunched in December 2022.
Twitter Blue doesn’t require users to be recognizable or affiliated with notable organizations or brands. The only criteria for the service are that accounts must be older than 90 days, non-deceptive, and active. The change may not be as sudden or all-encompassing as first thought, with Musk explaining via Twitter that users associated with “a verified organization” would maintain their checkmarks. Twitter Blue will also allow users to edit tweets, organize and bookmark tweets, customize the display of their Twitter app icon and Twitter page, and even customize their profiles to include NFTs. The new features available to subscribers include an “undo tweet” button allowing you to retract a tweet after you send it but before other Twitter users see it.
And the 280-character limit? Blue users will be able to write 4,000-character tweets. Twitter will also begin rolling out different colored checkmarks to differentiate between types of accounts. Gold will indicate businesses or corporations, gray will denote government organizations and officials, an affiliation badge for accounts connected to an organization on Twitter, and a badge for state-run media companies and individuals who are part of them. Twitter will automatically add these badges.
Well, OK then, Twitter!