Twitter to attempt re-launch of controversial subscription service
Twitter will re-launch its subscriber program, Twitter Blue, on Monday, dusting off its controversial choice to allow users to pay for verification.
In a tweet, the company said subscribers will be able to once again purchase Twitter Blue for $8 per month. However, in the midst of Twitter CEO Elon Musk's ongoing feud with Apple, the company announced that iOS users will have to shell out a bit more — $11 per month.
According to the company, Twitter Blue subscribers will get access to a number of perks, including the ability to upload videos in 1080p and fewer ads. Subscribers will also have the ability to edit their tweets, something normal users, as of now, cannot do.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Musk's version of Twitter Blue was immediately controversial upon its initial rollout because it allows practically any account to receive a "verified" blue checkmark. Prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, verification was reserved for notable figures and official accounts in government, journalism, celebrities, and companies. However, The Associated Press noted that as soon as Twitter Blue was initially started in October, the social media platform was inundated with imposter accounts and bots posing as legitimate sources.
This included numerous false accounts pretending to be Musk himself.
Amid the ongoing controversies and issues surrounding the subscription service, Musk made the decision to halt Twitter Blue in November.
It appears, though, that Twitter Blue is now prepared to begin anew, and there may be other colors on the horizon, as Twitter said it will begin giving gold checkmarks to businesses and grey checkmarks to governments.
-
The Olympic timekeepers keeping the Games on trackUnder the Radar Swiss watchmaking giant Omega has been at the finish line of every Olympic Games for nearly 100 years
-
Will increasing tensions with Iran boil over into war?Today’s Big Question President Donald Trump has recently been threatening the country
-
Corruption: The spy sheikh and the presidentFeature Trump is at the center of another scandal
-
Are AI bots conspiring against us?Talking Point Moltbook, the AI social network where humans are banned, may be the tip of the iceberg
-
Elon Musk’s pivot from Mars to the moonIn the Spotlight SpaceX shifts focus with IPO approaching
-
Moltbook: the AI social media platform with no humans allowedThe Explainer From ‘gripes’ about human programmers to creating new religions, the new AI-only network could bring us closer to the point of ‘singularity’
-
Will regulators put a stop to Grok’s deepfake porn images of real people?Today’s Big Question Users command AI chatbot to undress pictures of women and children
-
Australia’s teen social media ban takes effectSpeed Read Kids under age 16 are now barred from platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Reddit
-
Inside a Black community’s fight against Elon Musk’s supercomputerUnder the radar Pollution from Colossal looms over a small Southern town, potentially exacerbating health concerns
-
X update unveils foreign MAGA boostersSpeed Read The accounts were located in Russia and Nigeria, among other countries
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
