Twitter Wants $8 for Blue Checkmark

On Saturday, the Twitter app on the Apple App store was updated. Twitter users can now pay $8 for a ‘blue check’ verification mark next to their name.

It’s one of the first big changes since Elon Musk became the owner of Twitter in a $44 billion deal. Musk, the CEO of electric car company Tesla and space company SpaceX, also fired half of the staff at Twitter.

Previously, the blue check mark next to a person’s username meant that Twitter confirmed who the owner of the account was. It’s not clear if users who pay the new fee will have to confirm their identities.

There are some benefits for users who pay the monthly $8 fee. The users will see less advertisements, and they can post longer videos. Their content will also have better ranking, so more people will see it.

Soon, users with the blue check will also be able to post longer tweets and monetize their content. Musk wants to give creators more ad revenue than YouTube pays.

The new service will first be available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. 

Musk says that the service will come to other countries as soon as everything is working well. He also says it will hopefully be available in India in less than a month.

According to Musk, another priority is fixing Twitter’s search tool.