Twitter rolls out paid verification service in India: Report

NEW DELHI — Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has started a paid verification service for verified ‘Blue Tick’ users of the micro-blogging platform, which will cost around Rs 719 per month in India, according to reports.

Several Twitter users in India reported having received messages, urging them to sign up for Twitter Blue. However, only iPhones presently support the upgrade. In the upcoming days, everyone is anticipated to have access to the service.

Users who sign up for Twitter Blue will receive a “blue tick” without having to be verified. Elon Musk, the new owner of the microblogging site, has also stated that priority will be given to subscribers in terms of reach and display. Twitter’s strategy to introduce a monthly charge for the verified badge has polarised users globally.

Since completing the Twitter deal, the wealthiest man on the planet has made a flurry of decisions impacting the working of the social media giant that has millions of daily active users. Talking about these decisions on Wednesday, Musk announced in a tweet that the social media giant will do a lot of dumb things in the coming months on a trial-and-error basis.

“Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months. We will keep what works and change what doesn’t,” he tweeted. Among the biggest changes that Twitter is seeing is the inclusion of the new USD 7.99 per month Blue subscription. However, Musk’s decision to implement the blue tick fee did not go well with many.

Even some advertiser pulled back their leg from the site. Further, a second verification label has been rolled out to limit confusion between legitimate accounts and those that pay for their blue ticks.

Verified accounts will now come with an “Official” label beneath their username, complete with a grey verification checkmark in India. Ahead of the roll-out of blue tick subscriptions, the “official” label was noticed on the Twitter handles of various Indian government organizations.

However, the newly launched feature was stopped soon after it was launched and appeared on various user profiles. In response to a tweet from tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee about the Official badge, Musk said, “I just killed it.”

Apart from the “blue tick fee”, Musk has also been receiving a lot of hate on Twitter for laying off employees. Defending his decision to fire employees, Musk said in a tweet that it was needed as Twitter was losing more than “USD 4 million per day”. Also, celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg and Gigi Hadid quit Twitter in the days following its acquisition.

Meanwhile, Musk’s net worth has dropped below USD 200 billion as investors dumped Teslas shares on fears that the top executive and largest shareholder of the world’s most valuable electric-vehicle maker is more preoccupied with Twitter, reported Reuters on Wednesday.