Twitter released Elon Musk’s updated version of the Twitter Blue subscription service in Japan. The development comes after the company launched the service in five countries last month.
Quick Facts
- The paid subscription is now accessible to users in the US, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand.
- The old version launched in 2021 was also launched in these countries
- Now, Japan users can subscribe to Twitter Blue for ¥980 ($7.40) per month on the web and ¥1,380 ($10.42) per month on iOS.
- These rates are slightly lower than the US prices of $8 per month on the web and $11 per month on iOS.
After Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover, the company has endured a massive loss in revenue. The platform’s advertisers pulled out causing a huge dent in Twitter’s stocks.
So Twitter CEO Musk decided to monetize Twitter Blue in order to reduce their dependence on ad revenue. In an attempt to lure more subscribers, he made the site’s iconic blue ticks accessible to anyone willing to pay for it.
The service was subsequently launched in November 2022 but was quickly discontinued because of the loose security built around the service. Musk then resolved to address these issues and rolled out a revamped version of the subscription service.
Why should users subscribe to Twitter Blue?
Twitter’s new money-making endeavor, Twitter Blue, was launched in Japan on January 11. It will cost ¥980 ($7.40) for web users and ¥1,380 ($10.42) per month for iOS users.
Upon being successfully reviewed and approved, subscribed users can add a blue check mark next to their account name. Other perks include users rewriting their tweets after posting, customizations not currently available for normal users, and the ability to post videos up to 60 minutes in length and 2GB in file size from the web.
Furthermore, Blue users can revisit and manage their published tweets later. Using “Remove tweets,” you can cancel the tweets after sending them before they are posted to other accounts.
The “Reader” function can be used to simplify long threads into an easy-to-read form. Other features like the “bookmark folder” function, “theme” feature, etc have also been added.
Some of these features were previously seen in the legacy version of Twitter Blue. However, the increased limit on video posts and preferential Search results are new additions to the game.
Moreover, Blue users will get more preference over normal users in search results for replies and mentions. They will see lesser ads as compared to other users on the platform.
Twitter Blue can only be accessed by accounts that have been on Twitter for more than 90 days. After its release in Japan, Twitter Blue is now operational in six countries – the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom besides Japan.
Is Twitter Blue now safe to use?
Due to the rising cases of impersonation, Twitter released a grey check verification mark for government-related accounts and a golden check mark for companies. The announcement was made on December 12, 2022.
The remaining Blue users will have a blue tick mark. Twitter is also launching square affiliation badges for the handles of businesses on the microblogging site.
To become blue tick users, their accounts need to pass Twitter’s verification criteria, which include active, notable, and authentic although the process has received consistent backlash and accused of enabling impostors.
Ever since the blunder, Twitter has imposed stricter rules on the new verification system by mandating users to have a verified phone number to access the Blue subscription.
However, the platform’s manual verification system is not working as intended. Recently, a Washington Post columnist managed to create a fake account of Senator Edward J. Markey, for the second time.
Neither Elon Musk nor Twitter addressed the issue thereafter. Now, Musk wants to expand Twitter Blue in Japan due to the social network’s market share in the country. Japan reportedly has more than 50 million Twitter users.
