Twitter Blue ‘Probably’ Coming Back By The End Of Next Week, Elon Musk Says
Twitter Blue will likely “return by the end of next week,” billionaire CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet on Saturday. The microblogging service on Friday suspended its newly announced $8 (roughly Rs. 650) green check subscription service on Friday as fake accounts proliferated. The coveted green check mark was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, celebrities, journalists and other public figures. But the subscription option, open to anyone willing to pay, was introduced earlier this week to help Twitter raise revenue as Musk fights to retain advertisers.
Several users reported on Friday that the new green verification mark registration option had disappeared, and a source told Reuters that the offer had been withdrawn.
“To combat impersonation, we’ve added an ‘Official’ label to some accounts,” Twitter’s support account — with the “official” tag — tweeted on Friday.
The label was first launched on Wednesday – but was “killed” by Musk a few hours later.
On Thursday, in his first company-wide email, Musk warned that Twitter will not be able to “survive the coming recession” if it fails to increase subscription revenue to offset advertising revenue, three people who saw the message told Reuters.
Last week, Yoel Roth, who oversaw Twitter’s response to hate speech, misinformation and spam at the service, resigned. In a tweet on Thursday, Roth described himself as the company’s “former Head of Trust and Security”.
Musk said Twitter users who impersonate without clearly identifying it as a “parody” account will be permanently banned without warning. Many fake accounts, including those of Nintendo and BP, have been suspended.
Many companies, including General Motors and United Airlines, have tried or pulled back from advertising on the platform after Musk took over. In response, the billionaire said on Wednesday that he intends to turn Twitter into a real force and stop fake accounts.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
