Twitter will relaunch sign-ups for its Twitter Blue service on November 29, owner Elon Musk said on Tuesday.
Anyone signing up for the eight-dollar-a-month service will have a blue checkmark placed by their account name, ending the old system where the coveted check mark was only given to verified accounts of politicians, celebrities, high-profile media personnel, and other public figures.
It means the blue checkmark will essentially become a symbol that merely shows you’re a Twitter subscriber with access to premium features, while many of the previously verified accounts will display a new “official” label on their profile.
Indeed, the “official” label has just started to reappear on many of Twitter’s profile pages after showing on some accounts last Wednesday before being quickly pulled by the company.
In another tweet on Tuesday, Musk said that all unpaid legacy Blue checkmarks will be removed from profile pages “in a few months.”
The company paused the Twitter Blue subscription service on Friday after a slew of imitation accounts started to show up with the old verification blue checkmark, causing confusion for many among the community’s 230 million or so active users. Some of the imitation accounts bore the name of well-known companies such as Nintendo and Ely Lily, and contained tweets that were either offensive or false or both.
Upset by the swirl of confusion surrounding Twitter since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition at the end of October, a number of brands have paused advertising on the platform.
Musk’s message on Tuesday is an attempt to reassure users — as well as advertisers — that uncertainty surrounding Twitter Blue, or “Blue Verified” as he calls it in his tweet, will be put to bed at the end of this month.
Punting relaunch of Blue Verified to November 29th to make sure that it is rock solid
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022
Days after taking over at Twitter, Musk fired almost half the workforce in a bid to cut costs and push the platform toward profit. The CEO, chief financial officer, and entire board of directors were also giving their marching orders.
Much uncertainty still surrounds the future of Twitter. Many are wondering to what extent Musk will follow through on his previously stated wish to relax content moderation on the platform, which could lead to more offensive and problematic content appearing in tweets. The new owner may also want to fold in a suite of additional services such as payments and shopping in an effort to transform it into a so-called “everything app.” First, however, he needs to get those brands spending on advertising again — or at least persuade a lot of people to sign up for Twitter Blue.
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