It looks that the rollout was premature. According to Esther Crawford, a Twitter product lead, the new Twitter Blue plan isn't yet live, but some users are getting alerts as part of a live test.
Only a few days after newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk floated changes to Twitter's system for verifying user accounts, including charging $8 per month for the privilege, Twitter appears to have begun rolling out a new tier of Twitter Blue, its premium subscription service, that reflects some of Musk's proposed changes.
According to an in-app iOS notification seen by TechCrunch, the improved Twitter Blue, which starts at $7.99 per month, will include the blue verification checkmark formerly reserved for accounts that applied via Twitter's free verification procedure. Other "coming soon" features include "half the commercials" viewed by non-paying Twitter users, "twice as relevant" adverts (Blue previously deleted ads altogether), and the option to submit longer videos to Twitter.
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
By the way, it's unclear how lengthy the videos may be. The terminology concerning the new Twitter Blue is vague. However, in a tweet this afternoon, Musk stated that the current ceiling for 1080p video is 42 minutes, a technical constraint that he hopes to be extended early this month.
What remains to be seen is if current verified Twitter users will lose their blue checkmark if they do not pay $7.99 a month. The notice language implies that this will not be the case, however The Verge reported that Twitter was considering removing verification badges from accounts that do not pay for Twitter Blue within 90 days of the new plan's activation.
According to early indications, the new pay-to-play verification mechanism is unrestricted; Twitter does not appear to be scrutinizing who runs an account after they pay for the new Blue. Comedians Kathy Griffin and Sarah Silverman instantly developed spoof Elon Musk accounts to highlight the weaknesses in the system. Their accounts were later terminated, however, as a result of Musk's unilateral decision to start permanently banning users who do not make it clear that their accounts are satirical. Musk promised in a subsequent tweet that this will be made a requirement for joining up for Twitter Blue.
In any event, the new, more expensive Twitter Blue will similarly prioritize "excellent material," promising to increase Blue customers' exposure in replies, mentions, and search. In the first tab of the Twitter app's new notifications page, tweets from verified accounts are displayed by default. Twitter claims that this will help "reduce the prominence of frauds, spam, and bots," but only time will tell if this is true.
Musk previously stated that Twitter, which recently discontinued support for ad-free content supplied through Blue, will launch a new program for publishers eager to cooperate with the business to breach paywalls. However, if Musk plans to carry out his idea, the program does not appear to have made it into the new Blue, at least not at launch.
The new Twitter Blue, which is initially available on iOS in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, comes after mass layoffs at Twitter that affected roughly half of the company's staff, including employees on key human rights, accessibility, AI ethics, and curation teams. Musk has argued that the changes, combined with the introduction of new premium services, are required to return Twitter to profitability, since the firm confronts an estimated $1 billion in interest payments on $13 billion in debt per year.
It's going to be a difficult struggle. According to Sensor Tower data, Twitter's app has produced only $6.4 million in in-app purchases to date, with Blue being the most expensive. And, while not scientific, a poll conducted by investor Jason Calacanis found that the majority of respondents were opposed to paying any price for verification.
Musk's leadership of Twitter does not appear to have inspired much trust in big advertisers, as several have suspended ads on the network. Musk blamed a "massive drop" in Twitter revenue on "activist groups pressuring advertisers" in a tweet on Friday, presumably referring to an open letter sent Tuesday by civil society organizations urging Twitter advertisers to suspend their ads unless Musk committed to enforcing safety standards and community guidelines.