Twitter Checkmarks have Changed
Out with the original blue checkmarks process that we have known for years that notified the world about the status of government figures, entertainers, athletes, activists, content creators, or journalists. We have a new process in place.
It was never an easy process to obtain the original blue checkmark. It was a hard application to make for the ordinary person including checks on how your real name compared to your Twitter handle. Twitter preferred “JohnSmith” rather than “JohnSmith_the_genius”.
I also ran a project to add the original blue checkmark to 20+ Twitter handles for my company. That was easy to do as I was working direct with the Twitter team in Amsterdam who I had met previously and presented at one of their company events. So a very easy and pleasant project. However, those days are behind us. In with the new process, and it is no longer a free endeavor.
Blue Checkmarks
“The basic way is to PAY”. You pay via Twitter Blue. Twitter Blue subscriptions are available with monthly or annual prices. YES the fee enables you to have the new blue checkmark, but also much more.
Users have been promised the ability to edit tweets within 30 minutes and sort bookmark tweets, and customize their Twitter app icon and Twitter page. PLUS a much requested functionality; the “undo tweet” button. Take back a tweet before other Twitter users see it.
New functionality will be a big attraction for Twitter blue users like 4,000-character tweets. Would you pay for all of this?
In the last 3 months the blue Twitter checkmark has been heavily discussed in social media.
- 116,000 mentions in the first 3 months of 2023.
- Sentiment is 84% negative
Gold Checkmarks
The gold checkmark comes with a square profile picture for official business accounts through Twitter Verified Organizations. Gold checkmark companies can designate accounts within the organization as affiliates of the organizational account. An affiliated account will get a checkmark and an affiliate badge-derived organizational account profile picture.
The cost will be much larger for this checkmark compared to the blue one. For the US right now it will cost $1,000/month (plus tax) and $50/month (plus tax) for each additional affiliate sub account (costs may vary in the future).
Compared to the social media conversation about the blue checkmark, the gold version has received 6% of the volume compared to the blue checkmark.
Gray Checkmarks
We also have a gray checkmark. This denotes a government, multilateral organizations, or their officials.
Compared to the social media conversation about the blue checkmark, the gray version has received 2% of the volume compared to the blue checkmark. This shows the much reduced interest around this new version.
Learn more about all the new checkmarks and Twitter tools
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Hi Clive, I have the premium for this month to test it out. I’m not that impressed so far. My stats showed higher but traffic from Twitter overall has dropped. I think they have too many options with communities and spaces. Just like FB with groups and such, it all becomes diluted. (Unless you pay for ads.)
I saw your tweet waiting for the approval so I was waiting for your early feedback. What about the send and edit functionality plus the 4,000 character count?