Twitter starts providing a verification service for businesses
On Saturday, Twitter announced that it would begin working on a verification service for companies. Blue for Business was the original name for this program. Businesses and their members can sign up for Twitter accounts and obtain verified profiles through the platform’s built-in administrative dashboard.
“We’ll be reviewing applications and opening up access to a limited group on a rolling basis in the coming weeks,” Twitter added.
According to a statement made earlier in the day by Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, the social media platform will release post suggestion codes and make profile or tweet status accessible no sooner than next month. It was his belief that “transparency builds trust” that he expressed in his writing.
“Bookmark button moving to tweet details page, fixing image length crop & other minor bug fixes next week”, he posted.
Twitter also provides free advertisements to businesses that promote themselves through the platform. The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk is trying to regain the network’s advertising market by launching this initiative. Allegedly offering to cover equal advertising costs for its advertisers up to $250,000, Twitter is luring them with the promise of free advertising space.
Earlier this year, in December, Musk launched a verification service for Twitter called Twitter Blue. One of the features was a blue check mark, which indicated the user’s account had been verified. The grey checkmark denoted governmental entities, while the gold checkmark stood in for the recommended symbol for commercial enterprises. Members can now post videos in higher quality (1080p) and use other features like “reader mode” and “Edit Tweet.”
According to a report in The New York Times from earlier this week, Twitter is considering offering user profiles for sale in an effort to increase revenue. Since the report was released, Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform, has been looking into ways to increase revenue.
Developers at the company reportedly considered letting customers bid on “handles,” or usernames, in online auctions. Discussions about the potential new funding source have been ongoing since at least December. It is unclear if the proposal will be implemented, and if so, whether or not it will affect all accounts. Musk said last month that Twitter would start disclosing the identities of its 1.5 billion users and delete inactive accounts. Musk bought the social network in October. In a response to a post, he hinted that he was eager to let people make profiles with fake names.