Corporates and big personalities in Kenya are in a scramble to beat the April 1 deadline to enroll in the Twitter Blue subscription programme to avoid losing the status of their verified accounts.
When one gets verified on Twitter, it shows users on the social media platform that your profile is credible and authentic—a critical issue for business brands and personalities seeking to keep their clientele and followers updated.
Verification is open to different accounts including those used by businesses, politicians, celebrities, musicians and artists, influencers, and journalists among others.
The US firm is set to terminate its legacy verification checkmarks from April 1—leaving many corporates and personalities in a scramble to pay up the subscription and retain their verified handles.
A schedule on the Twitter website showed that in Kenya, verified accounts on iOS will pay $11(Sh 1,454.20) monthly, those on the web $8(Sh1,057), and Sh1,438 for android users.
There is also an annual package whereby users in Kenya on iOS, web, and android would pay $114.99(Sh 15,195.80),$84(Sh 11,101.37), and Sh 14,830, respectively.
“Until now, Twitter used the blue checkmark to indicate active, notable, and authentic accounts of public interest that Twitter had independently verified based on certain requirements. Now the blue checkmark may mean two different things: either that an account was verified under the previous verification criteria (active, notable, and authentic), or that the account has an active subscription to Twitter Blue” the Twitter Blue page reads in part.
“Accounts that receive the blue checkmark as part of a Twitter Blue subscription will not undergo review to confirm that they meet the active, notable, and authentic criteria that was used in the previous process” it adds.
The US firm has introduced a new service known as “Twitter Verified Organisations” for corporate entities on Twitter on a test-run basis. Subscribers to this service receive a gold checkmark that designates the account as belonging to an official business on Twitter.
Through Twitter Verified Organisations, businesses can affiliate other accounts with their account. Affiliated accounts receive a label with the image from the business’s profile picture.
If you ever need to cancel Twitter Blue, you can manage your subscription from your Twitter Blue settings on the platform where you subscribed. Your Twitter Blue features will expire at the end of your billing cycle.
To avoid further charges, cancel your Twitter Blue subscription at least 24 hours before the auto-renewal period. Canceling won’t give you a refund for amounts already paid.
Twitter has in the past fortnight made many changes to its subscription Twitter Blue programme including opening up the subscription plan for purchase globally, and also reducing the time new accounts must wait to be eligible for a Twitter Blue subscription from 90 days to 30 days.
