Twitter Blue is back… again. On Monday, Twitter announced that its premium subscription offering was open to new subscribers once again at a rate of $8 per month. The latest version of Blue includes the same blue checkmarks for subscribers as before, but with a new phone number requirement to achieve verification. You also get an edit button, 1080p video uploads, less ads, and more.
According to Twitter, in order to get a blue checkmark next to your name with Blue, you’ll need to register a phone number. From there, your account should receive a checkmark next to your name after you’ve completed the subscription process. Twitter notes that if you change your display name, handle, or profile photo, the checkmark will disappear until your account is reviewed by the company. In addition, your account must be at least 90 days old to subscribe.
Obviously, a checkmark isn’t the only thing your $8 a month gets you. Twitter Blue also comes with the ability to edit tweets, 1080p video uploads, about half as many ads as free accounts see, and a reader mode for long tweet threads. I can only imagine this feature will be relevant until Elon Musk introduces 4,000-character tweets.
Oh yeah, there’s one more *tiny* detail in regards to the price: it’s different on iOS. Musk famously was upset with Apple’s 30 percent cut on purchases made using the App Store’s purchasing system, so he’s decided to charge $11 per month for anyone who uses Twitter on iOS to sign up for Blue. That means if you want to save an extra $3 every month, you’ll have to sign up on the web.
Twitter Blue has had a rocky month. Musk’s first revision of the subscription service launched on November 9th, but because you could just pay $8 and get a blue checkmark next to your name without any extra steps, impersonations of public figures quickly got out of the control, leading to what can only be described as a ton of misinformation, something Musk wants to avoid with “Twitter 2.0.” Soon after it launched, new subscribers were cut off while Musk and his team reevaluated their approach.
In addition to Twitter Blue, Twitter is also launching its revised way of displaying verified entities on the platform. While regular users will get blue checkmarks, other accounts such as those belonging to media outlets and organizations will receive gold checkmarks. Government accounts are expected to receive gray checkmarks, although it doesn’t look like they’ve rolled out yet.
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