Have a Twitter blue tick? Buy a Blue subscription or lose it from April 1

Twitter Blue: Elon Musk has repeatedly said that the company will remove all blue checks as it starts monetising its platform by charging users

Twitter on Thursday said it would start removing the legacy verified blue check marks from the individual as well as organisation profiles from April 1. Only the paid subscribers and members of the approved organisation will have verified marks on their profiles.

"On April 1, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified check marks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue," the company tweeted.

Later, Elon Musk also tweeted that Twitter would remove the verified checkmarks. Twitter Blue is now available globally, and the users can get Blue Verified for $7 a month if they sign up via web browser, he added.

Musk has repeatedly said that the company will remove all blue checks as it starts monetising its platform by charging users.

"Twitter's legacy Blue Verified is unfortunately deeply corrupted, so will sunset in a few months," he had said.

For companies and brands, Twitter recently introduced a gold check mark and has shifted government accounts to a grey check mark.

What is Twitter Blue?

Twitter Blue is the platform's new subscription that adds the blue checkmark to the user's account and offers early access to several features.

Earlier, the blue checkmark was given free of cost based on the account activity, profile verification and the profession of the individual. It has all been made paid now.

What does Twitter Blue offer?

According to Twitter's website, "In addition to the blue checkmark, Twitter Blue features offer subscribers a way to enhance and customise their Twitter experience."

Among several features, it allows the user to edit their tweet within 30 minutes of posting it. This would also be provided for quote tweets. The users will be allowed to make updates to their posts, tag someone and reorder the media.

The subscription will also allow the users to change the themes of their accounts from blue to other colours.

Twitter Blue also offers prioritised ranking to the verified users in the ranking. Twitter has also allowed Blue subscribers to create long tweets of up to 4,000 characters.

The subscribers will also see 50 per cent fewer ads in their home timeline.

"As a Twitter Blue subscriber, you can add another layer of protection to your account with access to two-factor authentication via SMS," the micro-blogging site's website reads.

How much does Twitter Blue cost?

Twitter Blue in India will cost Rs 9,400 a year for individual users. This is also the price for a yearly subscription to the Android Twitter app. For web users, the subscription price in India is Rs 6,800. 

The subscription price for iOS and android app users is Rs 900 per month.

In the US, the Twitter Blue subscription costs $8 a month via the web and $11 a month through the in-app payment on iOS and Android.

Twitter reportedly also told businesses to pay $1,000 per month for retaining gold badges, and brands and organisations which do not pay the money will lose their checkmarks.

Twitter Blue subscriptions are non-refundable.

Will free Twitter go away?

"Free Twitter isn't going away. Twitter Blue simply offers an opt-in layer of customisation for your Twitter experience," the company's website says.

When did Elon Musk take over Twitter?

On October 28, Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging platform for $44 billion. Just after the takeover, Musk tweeted, "the bird is freed".

Since then, he has made several changes to the organisation. The top executives, including then-boss Parag Agrawal, were fired. The organisation has also laid off several thousand employees in a bid to cut costs.

According to an earlier report by the Wall Street Journal, Twitter currently has a debt of $13 billion. 

(With agency inputs)