Just days after Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk proposed changes to the way the social media platform verifies users’ accounts, including charging $8 a month for the privilege, Twitter appears to have begun rolling out a new tier of Twitter Blue, its premium service, that mirrors some of Musk’s suggestions.
The priority ranking of the “quality content“will be another feature of the redesigned and more expensive Twitter Blue service, which promises to increase subscriber exposure in replies, mentions and searches. It also claims that it would reduce “scams, spam and bots.”
Initially, it will be available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Currently, Twitter Blue will only support iOS devices.
Some reports also suggest that the launch may have been premature. According to a tweet from Twitter product manager Esther Crawford, the new Twitter Blue plan is not yet live but some users are receiving notifications as part of a test.
The new Blue isn’t live yet – the sprint to our launch continues but some folks may see us making updates because we are testing and pushing changes in real-time. The Twitter team is legendary. 🫡 New Blue… coming soon! https://t.co/ewTSTjx3t7
– Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 5, 2022
However, few people think that this is one of Elon’s antics to create a buzz around the subscription formula, which had been the subject of much criticism at its launch.