Twitter is undergoing a makeover in the era of Elon Musk. The entrepreneur said last night that the social network plans to delay the relaunch of its Blue Verified service, at $8 a month, initially scheduled for November 29. Twitter would use a different verification color for organizations and individuals.
Twitter Blue launched earlier this month but was pulled after users abused the new paid option that Musk hoped would bring new revenue to the company. It allowed users to pay for a blue check, which was previously reserved for verified users.
Blue’s paid subscription service has spawned a plethora of pranksters creating fake Twitter accounts. The platform has thus been even more conducive to disinformation, and many cheaply acquired brands have been used to impersonate brands, politicians and celebrities with unflattering messages. A user posing as pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly tweeted: “we are happy to announce that insulin is now free“. Consequence: The share price immediately fell on the stock exchange.
Twitter tested the use of two checkmarks, with a blue one for paying users and those who have already been verified, and an “official” gray one for some brands, such as news organizations. But there was a confusing overlap, where some accounts had both checkmarks. The gray check was removed the same day it was placed.
The delay comes after many Twitter staffers were fired. About half of the company’s 7,500 employees were laid off in early November. Last week, about 1,200 more full-time employees left after Musk asked the remaining staff to commit to high-intensity long hours working on his Twitter 2.0 vision or to resign. There is Nero in the new owner of the social network.
