Europe 1 with AFP 2:41 p.m., February 3, 2023
The paid version of Twitter imagined by Elon Musk arrives in France this Friday.
The network will now show different colored checkmarks depending on the user.
The famous blue tick, once awarded to users deemed "active, notorious and authentic", will now be awarded to all paying subscribers.
Twitter launches Friday in France its paid version and its colored checkmarks which classify its users: blue checkmark of "certified" account for subscribers, gray or yellow checkmark for government bodies or "official companies" and specific labels for robots or "state-affiliated media".
A major project by Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, this version called Twitter Blue has so far only been deployed in a few countries.
It is offered in France at 9.60 euros per month.
The social network has 16 million active users in France, according to Médiametrie.
A blue checkmark given to all paying subscribers
The ranking of social network users can have important implications for the visibility of tweets.
Thus, Twitter intends to put tweets from its paying subscribers at the top of replies and "will not endorse or amplify state-affiliated media entity accounts or their tweets" or those that link to their tweets.
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The blue tick, previously reserved for users deemed "active, notorious and authentic", will now also be assigned to all paying subscribers, with a series of conditions.
In particular, they must provide a confirmed telephone number, have existed for more than 90 days and not "show signs suggesting (that the account) is false or misleading" or "involved in manipulation operations".
A subscription to keep it
Accounts certified according to the old criteria keep their blue tick for the moment, but Elon Musk said in December that he wanted to delete them "in a few months".
They will therefore have to pay the subscription to keep it.
Strategic axis of Elon Musk to straighten accounts in free fall since the takeover, the subscription guarantees "twice as much advertising" and new features.
The yellow (gold) tick is assigned to what Twitter considers official and verified bodies, the gray tick to accounts of governmental or multilateral organizations, as well as members of governments, cabinets, diplomats, etc.
Emmanuel Macron's Twitter account now has a gray checkmark.
Specific labels specify whether accounts are considered businesses or professionals, or "state-affiliated media" (with the name of the state) or even automatic accounts (created to automatically generate content or retweet others accounts).
"State-funded media outlets with editorial independence, such as the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US, are not defined as state-affiliated media," Twitter said.