First hitch in the ambitious plan to make Twitter profitable. The launch of a paid subscription for users wishing the famous blue authentication mark has been postponed for a few days when it was to be effective on Monday.
According to information collected by the New York Times, a debate arose internally during the last phases of the deployment of this update around the appearance of fake certified accounts… for 8 dollars. With the risk of the spread of false information on the electoral process or the partial results of the American midterm elections, the Midterms.
On internal Slack messaging, an employee on the project asked why the social network was “”making such a risky change ahead of the election with the potential to cause election interference.” One of the managers then confirmed that the deployment was postponed to November 9.
No verification of the identity of the owner
Until now, eligible accounts (government, media, political, cultural, etc.) could have a blue badge added to their profile, as a token of authenticity and after identity verification. As soon as he acquired Twitter ten days ago, the Tesla boss launched an overhaul of this system, so that everyone could obtain the famous badge, and other practical tools, by subscribing to “Twitter Blue” for 8 dollars per month.
No need to prove your identity or function, all you have to do is pay for your subscription via your credit card or your account on the App Store or the Play Store. The English-speaking markets were to be served first while waiting for the commercial offer to be translated into other languages.
On the iPhone, the social network’s mobile application has already mentioned the arrival of the new formula since Saturday, but its launch has been postponed until Wednesday, after the results of these fiercely contested elections. In his tweeted plan, Elon Musk mentioned that pseudonyms were still allowed as long as they didn’t seek to “deceive with malicious intent”, and talked about creating a different brand for public figures. Another update of the social network impossible to complete in a few days after laying off half of the employees.