Twitter has added new perks for Blue subscribers a month after Elon Musk promised more features for users with the paid checkmark. Relaunched recently, the revamped Twitter Blue service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iPhone users who purchase it through Apple's App Store. Twitter Blue includes a number of features to improve user experience on Twitter, the most controversial of them being the blue checkmark that was once given free of charge to verified accounts belonging to public figures like journalists, celebrities, politicians, athletes, companies, and government agencies.
A Twitter Blue support page has confirmed that the service has added a couple of new features for subscribers. That includes the ability to upload videos of up to 60 minutes in length and "prioritized rankings in conversations." The change was first reported by TechCrunch, which says the support page was updated with the new features earlier today. The change comes a month after Elon Musk promised that Twitter Blue subscribers will get the ability to post hour-long videos and have "priority in replies, mentions & search." The plan was confirmed by the official Twitter Blue account earlier this month.
New Features For Twitter Blue Subscribers
Twitter had earlier stated that priority ranking for posts from Twitter Blue subscribers will help reduce visibility for scams, spam, and bots. Some users, however, have opposed the plan and claimed that the prioritized replies will, in fact, worsen the experience for non-paying users. Critics of the policy also argue that bad actors could take advantage of priority replies to increase the amount of misinformation and fake news on the platform, especially now that thousands of controversial users have had their accounts restored by Elon Musk.
As for the new hour-long videos, Twitter says Blue subscribers are now able to upload 1080p videos that are up to 60 minutes long. The feature, however, will only be available on the web, while app users on Android and iOS will only be able to upload videos up to 10 minutes long. Meanwhile, users who are not Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to upload videos up to 4 minutes in length across Android, iOS, and the web. Do note that the video file size is capped at 512MB for non-Blue users, while Blue subscribers can upload files of up to 2GB.
In addition to the new perks for Twitter Blue subscribers, Musk is planning to add even more features to Twitter to help it better compete against established creator-oriented platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. That would include paying influencers to upload videos, with Musk claiming that he could match or even exceed the 55 percent cut offered by YouTube. The increased focus on video is part of Musk's plans to turn Twitter into more of an entertainment platform where people come to watch videos rather than just discuss politics, sports, the weather, and other everyday issues.
Source: Twitter, TechCrunch