Twitter has confirmed pricing and features for its revamped Twitter Blue premium tier, with signups relaunching on Monday, December 12.
Twitter suspended Twitter Blue signups a month ago while it worked out a new system for verification badges following problems over impersonation accounts.
Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, tweeted on Sunday that Twitter Blue will cost $8 a month for anyone who subscribes via the web, and $11 for signups made via iOS. The differing fees appear to be Twitter’s way of dealing with Apple taking a 30% cut of in-app purchases made via iOS, a practice opposed by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk. Android users can sign up via the web and use Twitter Blue on their mobile devices.
Notably, the $8 fee is described as a “limited time offer,” with no details offered about when the offer will end, or how the pricing will change.
Twitter’s main account also shared a notice (below) showing some of the features that will be “coming soon” to Twitter Blue.
The notice said that verified accounts will see their tweets “rocket to the top of replies, mentions, and search,” in other words, such posts will be prioritized over non-Blue tweets, and tweets deemed to be coming from bots and spam accounts.
Blue subscribers will also see half the ads that non-subscribers see in their feed, and have the ability to post longer videos, though Twitter doesn’t reveal the new time limit.
In a tweet accompanying the notice, Twitter added that 1080p video uploads will soon be possible for Blue subscribers, and said that subscribers “will be able to change their handle, display name or profile photo, but if they do they’ll temporarily lose the blue checkmark until their account is reviewed again,” a measure designed to deal with impersonation accounts.
Crawford said that Twitter Blue will be available in five countries to begin with, though didn’t say which ones. She added that Blue will be “rapidly expanding” to other countries and that it’s “top of mind” for the team. Summing up, she tweeted: “Step one, get the core product features launched. Step two, expand regions where it’s available for purchase.”
Tweets from Musk on Sunday suggest that Twitter is still testing some of the features listed as “coming soon” in Twitter’s notice. For example, the Twitter chief posted a message on Sunday aimed at bots and spam accounts, saying: “Please attack me.” A short while later, Musk followed up with the tweet: “Cool, the bots are so far unable to swarm to the top of my replies.”
Folks who sign up to Twitter Blue will receive the blue-tick verification badge once their account has been verified. It’s still not clear precisely how Twitter plans to verify accounts, though, toward the end of last month, Musk said that each account would have to be verified manually, calling the plan a “painful, but necessary” process to ensure that verified accounts are genuine.
Twitter Blue is also set to issue different-colored verification badges, with company accounts on Twitter receiving a gold mark, government accounts a gray one, and individuals getting the traditional blue mark.
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