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Twitter Blue out now in the Philippines and elsewhere. Here's what you should know

By NICK GARCIA Published Mar 28, 2023 9:05 pm

Ever wanted a blue checkmark placed beside your Twitter handle? Well, now you can for as low as P383.33 a month.

The Elon Musk-owned social media company has rolled out its Blue subscription all over the world, including the Philippines.

Since launching in select countries last October 2022, Twitter Blue lets users enjoy several perks and features that augment their app experience.

The subscription is worth P440 monthly, or P5,280 annually. There's also an annual plan of P4,600, amounting to P383.33 monthly under a 12% discount.

Twitter noted that they are only allowing subscriptions to accounts created more than 30 days ago "to [maintain] integrity of accounts on Twitter and [make] the platform a place people can join and engage safely."

Users must also confirm their phone number upon signing up. After which, the account will be validated " to meet our requirements." "No further changes will be allowed during this review period," they added.

But what is it about this subscription that makes it special? Here are the privileges that a Twitter Blue user enjoys.

Verified status

Subscribers will have a blue checkmark beside their names. Changing their handles, display names, or profile photos will result in temporarily losing their checkmarks until after their account is reviewed again.

Twitter also told the public that businesses will have a gold checkmark instead, while government and multilateral accounts will have a grey checkmark.

Longer tweets

Subscribers may write tweets, replies, and quotes worth 4,000 characters long, from the usual 280.

Edit tweets

Subscribers may edit their tweet up to five times within 30 minutes, allowing them to make updates, tag somebody, or reorder media uploads.

Undo tweets

Unlike edit, the feature works like an email that gives the subscribers ample time to preview and revise their tweet before it gets published.

NFT profile pictures

Subscribers may use an NFT or non-fungible tokens as their profile pictures in a hexagon shape (instead of the typical circle).

Longer, HD videos

From 2 minutes and 20 seconds, subscribers may post videos lasting up to an hour. The videos have a file size up to 2GB and a resolution up to 1080p.

Bookmark Folders

Subscribers may group and organize their Bookmarked tweets into folders for faster discovery later. Bookmark Folders have no limit and are always private.

Themes, custom app icons

Subscribers may choose from colorful themes available in their app, as well as how their app icons display on their phones. Twitter said there will be new featured looks available for a limited time.

Custom navigation

Subscribers may choose what appears in their navigation bar, allowing for quick access to the content and Twitter destinations they prefer. They may select two to six items to keep in the bottom navigation bar.

Spaces tab

The Spaces tab comprise podcasts, themed audio stations, recorded Spaces, and live Spaces, becoming a one-stop shop for audio content.

Top articles

Subscribers will have a shortcut to the most-shared articles being shared by the people they follow, and who those people are following.

Prioritized rankings in conversations

Subscribers' replies on tweets will become more noticeable.

Reader

Reading threads can be a hassle with the number of entries, but becomes much easier with Reader. Subscribers may tap the Reader icon on top of the thread for less noise, if not use it to change the text size.

Upcoming features

Twitter said it has yet to launch certain features on Blue, like prioritizing tweets from verified users, making them appear to the top of replies, mentions, and search in a bid to fight scams and spam. Twitter also promised subscribers of seeing 50% less ads in their home timeline.

Twitter announced that not all listed features are available to everybody, even as they change from time to time.