Postponed several times, the launch by Twitter of its new subscription offer must finally take place on Monday, December 12, the social network announced on Saturday. Twitter Blue will be accessible “for 8 bucks [7,60 euros] per month “ or “$11 a month” for users of iOS, Apple’s operating system, the group said in a tweet – the price difference being justified by the commission taken by the Apple brand and against which the new boss of the social network, Elon Musk, had rebelled.
we’re relaunching @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to s… https://t.co/dNcMOpe6un
On Twitter, there is a “blue tick” to recognize verified accounts. Before Mr. Musk bought the social network, the certification service for organizations and personalities was free and separate from the paid subscription system, Twitter Blue. The novelty is that with this redesign of Twitter Blue, anyone who subscribes to it can now obtain certification. The latter will however be granted after verification, specifies the group, and will adopt during the week a color code: gold for companies and gray for governmental organizations, in accordance with what Mr. Musk had announced. at the end of November.
In addition to the certification badge, subscribers will be able, with this new offer, to have access to the function allowing to correct tweets after their publication or to that allowing to download videos of better quality.
Extension du programme Community Notes
Upon the takeover of Twitter at the end of October, Elon Musk announced his intention to launch a paid formula to diversify the revenues of the platform, whose financial health largely depends on its advertising revenue. A first version had been launched ten days after the takeover of the platform by the multi-entrepreneur, at the beginning of November, but had caused a cacophony with the opening of many accounts posing as celebrities or companies. She had been suspended almost immediately.
The boss of Tesla had then promised his return at the end of November, before declaring a few days later that the project was postponed indefinitely, the time to find a system to avoid identity theft.
Besides the imminent launch of Twitter Blue, the platform also announced the extension of Community Notes to all of its users worldwide. Launched in 2021 and formerly known as Birdwatch, this program aims to improve content moderation by adopting a collaborative approach: moderators who are part of it have the possibility of adding context, in the form of publicly visible notes, to tweets which may lend themselves to confusing or spreading misinformation. Other network users can then rate these ratings based on their usefulness.
Until now, only users from the United States had the possibility to see these contextual elements in their feed and to request to become a moderator. This program is now intended to be extended everywhere but gradually, “country by country”said the company on the official account of the Community Notes program.
Tweets of 4,000 characters?
Other changes to come have also been announced in recent days by the new boss of the social network. In accordance with what he had already hinted at the beginning of November, Mr. Musk thus reaffirmed on Sunday his intention to free himself from the limit of 280 characters per tweet, in force since 2017 (it was previously 140 characters). In a response to a user, the businessman claimed thata limit of 4,000 characters was now considered.
The boss of the company also assured that his teams were currently working on a feature allowing Internet users to know if their account is the subject of shadow banning on the part of Twitter, i.e. a voluntary reduction of their visibility by the platform. According to Elon Musk, every Internet user will have the opportunity to know the reason “and to appeal” of this decision.
Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been… https://t.co/eTkCySLqYw
This announcement is consistent with the vision of a « Twitter 2.0 » defended by Mr. Musk and whose outlines have been sketched in a blog post published on November 30. Opposed to the banning of accounts – he also recently authorized the return of tens of thousands of people who had been excluded from the platform – the libertarian entrepreneur wishes to further promote the “deamplification” people breaking the rules of the social network while making the decision-making process transparent. Please note that this announcement is made while developer Jack Sweeney accuses Elon Musk for having ordered that the visibility of his @elonjet account, which lists all the billionaire’s plane trips, be reduced.
Whether it’s about the new maximum number of characters or the shadow banning, Elon Musk did not specify any date of entry into force or any concrete terms of application. Some novelties announced by the billionaire, such as the creation of a “content moderation advice” internal to the companyhave not yet seen the light of day.