Following a problematic first launch that saw a spike in users impersonating brands and celebrities on the platform, Twitter Inc. plans to introduce its verified service with various colored checks for individuals, companies, and governments next Friday.
Friday saw Chief Executive Elon Musk assign colors to the various categories: gold for companies, grey for governments, and blue check for individuals, including celebrities.
“Painful, but necessary,” he said, adding that verified accounts will be manually authenticated before a check is activated.
The revamped $8-per-month service will allow individuals to have a smaller, secondary logo of their organizations if verified by them, he said in another tweet on Friday. “Longer explanation next week.”
Twitter postponed its relaunch on Monday in addition to making it error-free. The service is anticipated to help Twitter increase income at a time when Musk is struggling to keep advertisers after buying the company last month for $44 billion.
Musk referred to the subscription service as a “great leveler,” but on Nov. 11 it was suspended due to the proliferation of fake accounts, which led the wealthiest man in the world to reinstate the “official” badge for some users.
For example, one user impersonating drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co tweeted that insulin would be free, causing the company’s stock to plummet and forcing it to issue an apology.
The turmoil led a number of businesses, including General Motors and United Airlines, to pause or withdraw their advertisements from the platform. However, according to Musk, Twitter user growth is at an all-time high.
