Twitter Blue explained: what is it? How much does it cost?

Twitter is ready for you to hand over money, whether to subscribe to the stimulus Blue Twitter service or buy one of blue bird statues from his office in San Francisco. Twitter Blue has been one of Elon Musk’s strategies to monetize the social media company and shake up the momentum of the platform since its acquisition in April.

Not sure exactly what you’re getting for this monthly subscription? Are your eyes fixed trying to figure out what all those different colored checkmarks mean? Here’s everything you need to know.

What do I get with my subscription?

Before signing up for Twitter Blue, you need to verify the phone number connected to your account and check if your account is eligible. Twitter Blue costs $11 per month if you sign up through the iOS store on your iPhone (you can’t yet subscribe through Google Play on Android) or $8 per month if you subscribe through a web browser. This price difference is not unheard of for Apple’s App Store; youtube music made a similar price hike for iOS subscriptions.

The first thing you pay for with Twitter Blue is attention. Once your account has been reviewed, a blue check mark will be placed on your profile. “Reach the top in responses, mentions, and search,” reads a signup page outlining future benefits of the service. “Tweets from verified users will be prioritized, helping to fight scams and spam.” Two other features the company says will be coming soon for Twitter Blue subscribers include a reduction in in-app ads and the ability to share expanded video content.

OK, but what do you get now? You instantly get the ability to edit your Tweets multiple times within the first half hour of posting, a long requested feature. Although you have to wait for longer videos, Twitter Blue followers can download video files in 1080p quality. Are you still holding on to that bored monkey, crazy cat, big-mouthed maggot, or whatever from the latest NFT collection? Post it as your profile picture with Twitter Blue.

The enhanced service allows you to make cosmetic adjustments to your experience. Change the appearance of the icon on your smartphone or change the colors of the application. For anyone who bookmarks an overwhelming assortment of Tweets, you can now sort those bookmarked posts and organize them into private folders.

A word of warning: if you decide to sign up for Twitter Blue and want to keep your checkmark, lock down your Twitter ID, display name, and photo before signing up. According to the website FAQs, the site may remove your check mark for a short time if any of this information on your profile changes. This may be due to Musk’s distaste for accounts impersonating him on the platform it now owns.

What do all these different ticks mean?

In the words of the Twitter user @Horse_ebooks, “Everything happens so much.” December 10, Twitter announced further plans to change how checkmarks work on the platform. Accounts that were previously verified with a blue checkmark can keep it without a Twitter Blue subscription, but the account is labeled as “legacy verification”.

Users may start seeing certain accounts with gold or gray checkmarks. According to Twitter, gold is for an official company account and gray is primarily for government accounts.

After all, are you still sure you want to be on Twitter? Anyone who wants something new can think about the multiple alternative options with WIRED articles that help you get started on Mastodon, discover new servers on DiscordWhere consider giving LinkedIn a second chance.