Twitter launches subscription that includes verification for $8 a month

Twitter Inc. This Saturday it launched a subscription service for its platform for $8 a month that includes the blue check mark badge, offering an updated version in the Apple App Store.

In an update for the devices iOS de AppleTwitter said those who “subscribe now” can receive the coveted blue checkmark next to their usernames, “just like the celebrities, businesses and politicians you already follow.”

A blue check mark next to a person’s username means that Twitter has confirmed that the account belongs to the person or company claiming it

According to the iOS notification, other benefits of the update include “half the ads,” the ability to post longer videos on Twitter, and priority ranking for quality content.

The new twitter boss, Elon Musk, noted the new service earlier this week in its push to monetize the social network and make it less reliant on ads. Twitter is currently free for most users.

The Twitter update said that the new service with verification will be available in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

“As soon as we confirm that it works well in the initial set of countries and we have the translation work done, will roll out around the worldMusk said in a tweet on Saturday.

However, according to a tweet today, from Twitter early-stage product executive Esther Crawford, the new service Twitter Blue is available, but has not yet been launched.

“The new Blue isn’t live yet – the sprint towards our launch continues, but some may see us making updates because we’re testing and pushing changes in real time,” he said.

Earlier this week, Crawford went viral after retweeting a photo of herself sleeping on the floor of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters office following Musk’s inauguration.

“When your team is pushing all day to meet deadlines, sometimes we #SleepWhereYouWork.”