Twitter announced yet another version of Twitter Blue, which is launching tomorrow. And in all honesty, if this was announced 6 months ago, I'd be all over it.
I mentioned this a few days ago, but it's now official. Twitter Blue will cost $8 a month if you sign up via the web, but if you do so via the iOS app, it will cost $11 a month. This is obviously to keep the revenue the same (or very similar) after Apple take 30%.
So, treating the web price as the de facto price, $8 (around £6.50) per month, I think is good value for what you get. Although I will add two caveats to that statement, the first being that it depends on if the people you follow are still on Twitter and have not migrated to something like Mastodon, and also that most of the features of Twitter Blue have been labelled as "coming soon".
If you subscribe to Twitter Blue tomorrow, this is what will be included:
- Once approved (via a verified phone number), you will get a blue checkmark on your profile.
- 1080p video uploads.
- Reader mode.
- Ability to edit tweets.
- Early access to new features with Twitter Blue Labs.
And here is what is currently marked as coming soon:
- Verified users will have their tweets prioritised in replies and searches.
- See 50% fewer ads.
- Longer video uploads.
The most valuable features for me would be the 1080p video uploads, tweet editing, and then the reduced number of adverts.
The problem for me is that I don't currently use Twitter as much. One reason is that I'm currently spending a bit of time on Mastodon, and the other is that I'm spending less time on social media in general.
However, if a time comes when I feel like I want to go back to Twitter in a more normal capacity. (And if Twitter is still standing at that point). I think this is something I would subscribe to.
It's also good to see that there's at least some level of verification happening before blue checkmarks are handed out. So at least they will mean something. And it's even better to see that the checkmark that a verified user can buy, isn't the same one that is applied to businesses or government accounts. With businesses getting a gold checkmark, and government accounts getting a grey checkmark.
One big complaint about the purchase of a checkmark was that you could pay for Twitter Blue and suddenly seem as official as any other previously verified account. I think the distinction between different verification types, and that there is at least a phone number being verified for Twitter Blue subscribers, there's at least some value to it.
As for right now, I still plan on continuing to use Twitter. However, I won't rush into Twitter Blue, unless something terrible happens over on Mastodon, or something majorly impressive happens at Twitter.