Twitter users can soon get a green check for a monthly fee of $7.99

Twitter announced a subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes blue checks now only issued to verified accounts as new owner Elon Musk works to overhaul the verification system of the platform just before the US midterm elections.

In an update to Apple’s iOS devices available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Twitter said users “sign up now” for “Twitter Blue with Verification” can receive get a blue check mark next to their name “like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you’ve followed.”

But Twitter employee Esther Crawford tweeted Saturday that “new Blue is not live yet – our sprint to launch continues but some people may see us updated as we are trying it out.” experience and promote changes in real time. “So far, verified accounts don’t appear to have lost checks.

It was not immediately clear when the subscription would go live. Crawford told the Associated Press in an announcement on Twitter that it’s coming soon, but it’s not out yet. Twitter did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Anyone can get a green check that could lead to confusion and an increase in misinformation ahead of Tuesday’s election, but Musk took to Twitter on Saturday in response to a question about the risk of these misinformation. impersonators impersonating verified profiles — such as politicians and election officials—It’s “Twitter will suspend the account trying to impersonate and keep the money!”

“So if scammers want to do this a million times, it’s just a bunch of free money,” he said.

But many fears Massive layoffs starting Friday can overcome the barrier of censorship and verify the above content social platform that public agencies, electoral boards, police departments, and news agencies use to reliably deliver information to the public.

Change will end Twitter’s Current Verification System, which was launched in 2009 to prevent impersonation of well-known accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Twitter currently has about 423,000 verified accounts, many of which rank journalists from around the world the company has verified regardless of how many followers they have.

Experts have raised serious concerns about the strengthening of the platform’s verification system, which, while imperfect, has helped Twitter’s 238 million daily users determine whether the account they receive the information is authentic. Current verified accounts include celebrities, athletes, and influencers, along with Government agencies and politicians around the world, journalists and news outlets, activists, businesses and brands, and Musk himself.

“He knows blue checks have value and is trying to exploit it quickly,” said Jennifer Grygiel, a social media expert and associate professor of communications at Syracuse University. “He needs to gain people’s trust before he can sell them anything. Why would you buy a car from a salesman you know who has turned out to be basically chaotic? “

The update Twitter made to the iOS version of the app doesn’t mention verification as part of the new blue check system. As of now, the update is not available on Android devices.

Musk, who previously said he wanted to “verify all humans” on Twitter, stammered that public figures would be identified in ways other than the blue check. Currently, for example, Government officials identified in writing under a name indicating they are posting from an official government account.

For example, President Joe Biden’s @POTUS account indicates in gray letters that the account belongs to “a US government official”.

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, who has 7.8 million Twitter followers, told the AP, “I could really just delete my Twitter account, I never use it. . I find it really healthy to delete social media from my phone. time.”

“But it’s also a really powerful tool for connecting with people, so I appreciate that and I try to use it as such, not as something that gets in my way. that I’m walking in life,” he said.

The announcement comes a day after Twitter started laying off workers to cut costs and more companies are pausing advertising on the platform as a corporate world cautiously waits to see how the platform will perform under its new owner.

Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity, said about half of the company’s 7,500 employees have been laid off.

He said the company’s frontline content moderators are the group least affected by job cuts and that “election integrity efforts — including harmful misinformation that could block the vote and combat state-backed disinformation operations — remain a priority .”

Co-founder and former CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey admits fault because of job losses.

“I hold myself accountable for why everyone is in this situation: I scaled the company so fast,” he tweeted Saturday. “I’m sorry for that.”

Musk tweeted late Friday that it had no choice but to cut jobs “when the company is losing more than $4 million a day.” He did not provide details on the daily loss at Twitter and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months of pay as severance.

He also said Twitter has seen a “massive drop in revenue” as advertisers face pressure from activists to leave the platform, which relies heavily on ads to generate revenue. earn money.

United Airlines on Saturday became the latest major brand to pause advertising on Twitter, joining companies including General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi.

Musk tried to reassure advertisers last week, saying Twitter Won’t Be a “Free Hell for All” for what he calls a commitment to free speech.

But concerns remain about whether Twitter’s gentler censorship will prompt users to send out more offensive tweets. That can hurt companies’ brands if their ads appear next to them.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Saturday urged Musk to “make sure human rights is at the heart of Twitter management. In an open letter, Türk said reporting that the company’s entire human rights team and much of its ethical AI team had been fired was not “an encouraging start”.

“Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them,” Türk said. “Our respect for shared human rights should create barriers to the platform’s use and development.”

Meanwhile, Twitter can’t simply cut costs to increase profits, and Musk needs to find ways to increase revenue, said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush. But that may be easier said than done with the new green check registration program.

“Users got this for free,” Ives said. “There could be massive resistance.”

He expects 20% to 25% of Twitter’s verified users to initially sign up. He added that Musk and Twitter will get this soon and let the subscriptions run smoothly.

“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression,” says Ives. “The first week Musk owned the Twitter platform was a shipwreck. Now you’ve cut 50% (the workforce.) There are questions about the stability of the platform and advertisers are concerned. Observe this with a keen eye.”

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