Twitter launches new verification with gold check mark
On Monday, the company started a new way for business users to become verified with a gold check mark with the latest iteration of Twitter Blue.
It was announced in a Twitter thread Saturday:
The service will cost $11 to use if the user signs up with an iOS app — Elon Musk, owner and CEO of Twitter has been a vocal critic of Apple’s app store fee — and $8 a month if someone signs up through the web.
Musk didn’t acknowledge the launch on Twitter (as of press time) but did post a photo of himself next to a grave labeled “bots,” and it is unclear if he is referring to Twitter Blue’s re-launch or his well-known public hatred of fake accounts on the platform.
It also likely refers to his Thursday announcement that the company would be removing 1.5 million Twitter accounts.
The pay-for-verification programme Twitter Blue, which would have allowed anyone to purchase blue check mark verification for $7.99 a month, was soft-launched by the company’s new leadership last month, but it descended into chaos. Since celebrities, journalists, and other official accounts on the platform had historically used the blue check mark, users came to regard it as a reliable source of identity verification.
Things rapidly became chaotic. After a Twitter account impersonating the pharmaceutical company Tweeted that insulin would be free, the stock of Eli Lilly and Company fell. Josh McDaniels, the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, was incorrectly reported to have been fired by a Twitter account posing as NFL analyst Adam Schefter.
Musk, a self-described supporter of free speech, was consequently forced to suspend and ban accounts. Later, in late November, Musk declared that the programme was being temporarily suspended due to widespread impersonation.
The company announced that it will now let companies sign up for Twitter Blue and get a gold checkmark. Regular users who subscribe online are marked with blue checkmarks. According to the company, governments and other “multilateral accounts” will receive grey checkmarks.
Before users can receive a blue checkmark, the company will require them to connect a phone number to the account in order to help prevent account impersonation. They will momentarily drop the check until their accounts are re-examined if they want to change their handle, name in the account display, or profile photos, the company stated.
Twitter Blue will have the following features: Edit Tweet, uploading videos in 1080 pixels, “reader mode,” and a blue checkmark on their profile post-review.
“Thanks for your patience as we’ve worked to make Blue better – we’re excited and looking forward to sharing more with you soon!” the company wrote.
