On Monday, Twitter’s paid verification feature will be accessible once more. It was halted last month after being inundated with impersonators.
It is still $8 per month, but there is a $11 fee for people who use the Twitter app on Apple devices.
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has previously stated in tweets that he opposes the commission fee Apple imposes on in-app purchases.
One of Twitter Blue’s additional features is an edit button.
This has long been a feature requested by many Twitter users, although there are others who argue that it increases the potential for the spread of disinformation, if a tweet is altered after being widely shared.
Blue-tick subscribers will also see fewer ads, have their tweets amplified above others, and be able to post and view longer, better quality videos, the platform says.
Previously, a blue tick was used as a sign of legitimacy as a verification tool for high-profile accounts. Twitter gave them away for free, but only the company selected who got one.
Mr Musk argues that this was unfair.
Those who had a blue tick under the previous regime still have them, but if the tick is pressed, a message appears saying the account is a “legacy verified account” and “may or may not be remarkable.”
According to Twitter’s own account, those check marks will soon be replaced by either gold (for businesses) or grey (for others such as authorities) badges.
Subscribers who change their names or display photographs will lose their blue tick under the new system until the account is evaluated by Twitter.
Fake accounts
The service had a rocky start in November, when people began mimicking big brands and celebrities and paying for the blue-tick emblem to appear real.
Many people pretended to be Elon Musk himself.
In one case, a person pretending to be from the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly tweeted “insulin is free,” causing the real company’s share price to plummet; nonetheless, Eli Lilly has since admitted that insulin prices may indeed be reduced.
Having said that, anecdotally, quite a few accounts appeared to take the opportunity to subscribe for legitimate reasons.
Twitter changes
Elon Musk has made a number of sweeping changes since he took over Twitter at the end of October after buying it for $44bn (£38bn).
He stated that the company was losing $4 million per day and that it needed to become profitable.
He has laid off roughly half of the company’s workforce, built bedrooms at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco for the remaining employees who work long hours, and begun reinstating contentious banned accounts such as rapper Ye (Kanye West), former US President Donald Trump, and influencer Andrew Tate.
Mr Musk also claims that idle Twitter accounts will be removed after a specific amount of time. This has angered others who say they treasure the accounts of loved ones who have passed.
Rod Lurie, a film director, tweeted that his “heart was torn” at the notion of his late son Hunter’s account being deleted.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter users cannot designate someone to manage their accounts after they die, though state executors can make requests.
