Elon Musk Sets A New Twitter Blue Verified Relaunch Date
Elon Musk has only been Twitter's new owner for a couple of weeks, but it feels like months have passed. During his brief time behind the wheel of the internet's favorite microblogging platform, Musk has mandated and executed a number of major changes starting with layoffs that hit around half of the company's workforce. The fallout from that has been major, at least if insider leaks are true. Remaining employees have alleged hectic and burdensome work demands, while insiders have expressed concerns about the company's infrastructure and Musk has warned of potential bankruptcy in the future. Amid all of this was a major change to the way Twitter labels its users: the verified check mark.
Twitter's new leader announced plans to change how the verification badge works, revealing only days into his ownership of the company that it would become a paid product rather than something given to notable accounts to confirm their authenticity. Musk dismissed Twitter users who pointed out potential problems with this plan, parading the idea around as a "power to the people" movement — one you'd have to pay $8 per month to participate in. The results were predictably disastrous and may have had significant financial consequences for at least one company within days of the plan's launch (via The Washington Post). Twitter Blue was promptly pulled, but it turns out the temporary pause will only be in place for a couple more weeks.
Elon Musk says Twitter Blue will be back soon
In a tweet published late in the day on November 15, Elon Musk revealed that the company's Blue subscription plan will launch once again toward the end of the month. Once November 29 rolls around, anyone on Twitter will be able to pay $8 per month to get the blue badge on their profile, though it's unclear what kind of changes may accompany the relaunch. Musk said only days ago that brands will soon have a way to verify which accounts have an association with them, though no specifics on that plan were provided.
Punting relaunch of Blue Verified to November 29th to make sure that it is rock solid
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022
Musk mentions in his latest tweet that the team — those who remain, anyway — will use the extra time to ensure that the relaunched version of the Blue plan is "rock solid." He said in a subsequent tweet to someone who is now stuck with the Twitter name "chicken sandwich" that upon its revival, Blue subscribers will lose their verification badges if they change their verified name — presumably meaning the name they used when signing up. However, the badge will return after a review that confirms it doesn't violate any of Twitter's rules.
It remains unclear how long that review process may take, as Twitter is now down a considerable number of employees and, in some cases, entire teams were laid off. The loss of content moderators in particular has raised some concerns among advertisers who worry the rapid and drastic transformation may make Twitter a platform no longer worth buying ad space on, though many things remain to be seen.