Since this Friday, Twitter has offered its French users its paid version and its colored checkmarks. The blue “certified” account checkmark is reserved for subscribers and the gray or yellow checkmark for government agencies and “official companies”. Specific labels have also been put in place for robots and “state-affiliated media”.
A major project by Elon Musk, this version called Twitter Blue has so far only been deployed in a few countries. It is now offered in France at 9.60 euros per month to the 16 million active users in France.
The ranking of social network users can have important implications for the visibility of tweets. Thus, Twitter intends to put the tweets of its paying subscribers at the top of replies and “will not endorse or amplify state-affiliated media entity accounts or their tweets” or those that link to their posts.
Less advertising and a blue tick for paid subscribers
The blue tick, previously reserved for users deemed “active, notorious and authentic”, will now also be awarded to all paying subscribers, with a series of conditions. In particular, they must provide a confirmed telephone number, have existed for more than 90 days and not “present signs suggesting (that the account) is false or misleading” or “involved in manipulation operations”.
Accounts certified according to the old criteria keep their blue tick for the moment, but Elon Musk said in December that he wanted to delete them “in a few months”. They will therefore have to pay the subscription to keep it. Elon Musk’s strategic axis to straighten accounts in free fall since the takeover, the subscription guarantees “twice as much advertising” and new features.
Differentiated certifications for institutions and professionals
The yellow (gold) tick is assigned to what Twitter considers official and verified bodies, the gray tick to accounts of governmental or multilateral organizations, as well as members of governments, cabinets, diplomats, etc. Emmanuel Macron’s Twitter account now has a gray checkmark.
Specific labels specify whether the accounts are considered businesses or professionals, or “state-affiliated media” (with the name of the state) or even automatic accounts (created to automatically generate content or retweet other accounts).
“State-funded media outlets with editorial independence, such as the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US, are not defined as state-affiliated media,” Twitter said.