Image Credits: Twitter
Elon Musk, the company’s billionaire owner, predicted that Twitter Blue would likely “come back end of next week” in a tweet on Saturday. As fake accounts proliferated, Twitter on Friday temporarily suspended its recently launched $8 blue check membership service.
Probably end of next week
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
Before, only verified accounts of public figures including journalists, legislators, and well-known people could display the coveted blue check mark. But earlier this week, Twitter launched a membership option that anyone willing to pay for may use to increase revenue as Musk battles to keep advertisers.
On Friday, a number of customers said that the brand-new subscription option for the blue verification check mark was no longer available, and a source told Reuters that the service has been discontinued.
Twitter’s support account, which has the “official” tag, tweeted on Friday, “to combat impersonation, we’ve added an ‘Official’ label to some accounts”
The brand was initially unveiled on Wednesday, but Musk “killed” it a few hours later.
Three people who viewed the message told Reuters that Musk warned Twitter on Thursday that if it didn’t increase subscription revenue to balance out declining advertising revenues, it wouldn’t be able to “survive the next economic collapse.”