Twitter Starts Handing Out Verified Checkmarks to Users for $8

Twitter has started handing out verified checkmarks to users for $8. Its new owner Elon Musk put about this idea of a new verification system several days ago. He promoted Twitter Blue subscription plan as a tool to deal with dropping revenues from the ads and a way to eradicate bots on Twitter.

Twitter Blue availability is now limited to several countries such as the US and Canada, though Elon Musk hinted that eventually it would come out all over the world.

Power to the people: Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow,

the version notes for the app’s latest update say.

Apart from the new verification system, Twitter pledges to cut by half the number of ads seen by subscribers "soon." Other upcoming features will include the ability to post longer videos and get priority ranking in replies, mentions and searches, the company said.

With midterm elections coming up in the US, the release of the new verification system cannot arrive at a more pivotal time.  Many start to question the ability of Twitter to effectively moderate the content. There is a fear that any person can pay $8 to make their impostor account look more legitimate.

Twitter will suspend the account attempting impersonation and keep the money! So if scammers want to do this a million times, that’s just a whole bunch of free money,

Musk twitted defending his decision to roll out blue check marks. The Twitter’s owner added that relying on a payment system and Apple or Android is a much better way to ensure verification.