There’s no doubt that since taking over the reins, Elon Musk has shaken things up in Twitter land. From curating feeds and controlling the content you view to reinstating previously banned controversial accounts, he’s certainly made his mark.
Twitter Blue, I see you
The latest introduction to cause a bit of a whirlwind is Twitter Blue. Brought officially in November 2022, the subscription service started making an impact in April 2023 when accounts started noticing that blue ticks were disappearing - cue media coverage of Beyoncé losing her status).
But what does it all mean now?
Striving to make more money, Musk’s subscription service now requires users to pay for their blue tick, which was previously awarded to those who had influential status or were a brand with a sizable following. Priced at £9.50-£11 a month, the service comes with benefits, including;
- 50% reduction in ads
- Editable tweets (within 30 minutes of posting)
- The ability to undo tweets
- Longer character limits (from 280 to 10,000)
- Text formatting
- Bookmarking
Although it’s described as an ‘opt in’ service and ‘free Twitter’ will still remain for general users, for a business, you won’t be able to advertise without it. So, if you want to carry on promoting tweets and running campaigns, you have to take out the subscription.
Twitter describes this new step as an effective way to ‘’improve the quality of conversations…reduce fake, untrustworthy accounts and promote a higher quality, Twitter where people can join and engage safely.”
Verified Organisation
A verified organisation is different to Twitter Blue and is a new way for organisations to verify themselves and their affiliations. There are some new profile labels to distinguish these:
- A gold badge with a square avatar means the account has purchased a verified organisation and is a business or non-profit
- A grey badge with a circle avatar means they are a governmental or multilateral organisation
The profiles with these badges, now have the power to affiliate any individual or entity that is associated with their account, whether that’s a subsidiary brand or an employee. These people will get a badge and a small image of their parent company’s profile picture, so their users can click it and drive followers across the network.
As well as adding affiliations, Verified Organisation will get access to features, including customised profiles, premium customer support, increased media upload limits and all the above features of Twitter Blue.
Sounds good doesn’t it? But it comes with a price tag - £1,140 a month plus £60 a month per affiliate.
We’ll all get used to the badges, new features and subscription options soon enough. And once we are, the next change will no doubt be introduced.
Keeping up? Here’s a handy guide to all the new labels.
If you're unsure which way to go with your Twitter account or need support launching a campaign then get in touch with the social experts at contentmarketing@four.agency