Twitter expects organisations to pay R18k a month for blue ticks

Businesses, non-profit organisations and government institutions have to fork out R18 100 per month for a Twitter checkmark and verification labels for affiliated accounts, while tagging accounts will be an additional R910 per handle. VAT is not included.

When Twitter (and its verification marks) were free before, all organisations had a Twitter account to improve their reach, but this could be too pricey for small businesses that are already struggling in adverse economic circumstances and of course rolling blackouts.

According to Twitter’s website, Twitter verified organisations is a new service the social media platform is testing for corporate entities and subscribers receive a gold checkmark which designates the account as belonging to an official business.

Businesses can affiliate other accounts with their accounts and these affiliated accounts receive a label with the image from the business’s profile picture.

The gold checkmark indicates that an account is an official business on Twitter through verified organisations.

Subscribers will get custom organisation profile to “elevate and distinguish” them with a square avatar and a tab listing all affiliated accounts.

Organisations will also be defended against impersonators whose accounts will be flagged for further review if impersonation is detected.

Organisations that subscribe will also receive “exclusive access” to contact premium support to ensure timely help and escalations. They will also get significantly elevated Tweet, DM and media upload limits, as well as all the other benefits of Twitter Blue.

ALSO READ: Musk’s moves felt from Wall Street to the Vatican

What does Twitter Blue offer?

Twitter Blue offers, according to the website:

• A 30 minute window to make a limited number of changes to published Tweets.
• About 50% fewer ads in the For You and Following timelines.
• Longer Tweets up to 10 000 characters, while you can normally use 280.
• Text formatting that allows you to bold and italicise text.
• Bookmark Folders to group and organise bookmarked for faster discovery.
• Custom App icons to change how your Twitter App icon displays on your phone.
• NFT profile pictures to customise your Twitter profile to show off the NFTs you own.
• Colourful themes options.
• Custom navigation to choose what appears in your navigation bar for quick access.
• A spaces tab for easier access to audio content.
• A Top Articles shortcut to the most-shared articles in your network.
• A Reader to turn long threads into a “more beautiful reading experience”.
• Undo Tweet to retract a Tweet after you send it, but before it is visible to others.
• Prioritised rankings in conversations and search to give Tweets you interact with a small boost in their ranking.
• longer video upload up to 60 minutes long and up to 2GB file size.
• SMS two-factor authentication for another layer of protection.

According to the Twitter website, charging for verification is “one important step” it takes “improve the quality of conversations on Twitter” and the changes are designed to reduce fake and untrustworthy accounts and promote a higher quality Twitter where people can join and engage safely on the platform.

Individuals will pay R144,99 to R200 to have their accounts verified.