According to the AP news agency, the service was rolled out in an update of Twitter’s iOS app. Users can ‘from now on’ subscribe to Twitter Blue, as the service is called.
Those who do will immediately receive the blue check mark after their name, “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow”. It is unclear whether the identity is also verified, as is now the case with a blue check mark.
Twitter Blue is currently only available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is not known whether the service will also arrive in the Netherlands and how much it will cost here.
Twitter’s new head Elon Musk confirmed the news. In a tweet, he wrote: “You can jump high or low, but it will cost $ 8.”
It’s a major change in Twitter’s system for verified accounts. This was introduced in 2009 to make it clear that this is a real account. Until now, there were around 423,000 accounts with a blue check mark.
Musk says it’s “a few months‘it will take before current users lose their authentication status.
Longer videos
The new Twitter boss had the change around the check mark announced this week. He also announced that the Twitter Blue subscription price would be $ 8.
Twitter Blue subscribers also get “priority” in the ranking of their tweets in comments and mentions and in search results. “This is essential for fighting spam and scams,” Musk said. Additionally, subscribers will be able to post “longer video and audio clips” and will see “half fewer ads”.
4 million losses
Musk previously said he needed to intervene on Twitter. He defended the layoffs of thousands of employees because Twitter loses $ 4 million a day.
