Twitter’s $8 a month Blue subscription with verification is rolling out

Following a false start over the weekend, the new Twitter Blue has arrived. Priced at $8 per month in the US, the service grants subscribers access to instant account verification and an accompanying blue checkmark that shows up on their profile page and alongside their tweets. As of the writing of this article, the subscription isn’t available on Android. It’s also unclear when Twitter Blue will arrive outside of the markets where the service was already available before today.    

The other perks Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk announced would be part of the package, including the ability to see half as many ads and post longer videos, also aren’t available yet, with the subscription prompt listing those as “coming soon.” Notably, the signup form lists the $8 monthly price as a “limited-time offer.” 

Since finalizing his takeover of the company nearly two weeks ago, Musk has positioned paid account verification as a way to make Twitter sustainable and increase trust in the platform. However, when it briefly began rolling out the new Twitter Blue on Saturday, many were quick to point out the service was likely to have the opposite effect since almost anyone could pay for verification and then theoretically change their account name to impersonate another user. After a handful of verified “blue-check” users changed their accounts to impersonate Musk, he announced users who were impersonating others would need to explicitly specify they were running a parody account or face a permanent suspension.   

Twitter’s verification situation became murkier early Wednesday when the social media website briefly began attaching an “Official” label to some major accounts, including those belonging to celebrities, large publications and politicians. After a few hours, Musk said he had “just killed” the deployment. “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months,” he tweeted shortly after. “We will keep what works and change what doesn’t.”