Twitter rolls out its $2.99 a month subscription, ‘Blue,’ in the US, but users are not happy
Twitter officially rolled out its subscription service called Twitter Blue on Tuesday in the U.S. that charges users $2.99 monthly fee to access exclusive features – but many users do not seem wiling to pay extra for the social media platform.
More than 170,000 tweets discussing Twitter Blue are floating around the platform, with a majority bashing the subscription service – including one user threatened to block others who pay for monthly fee.
Many note that such features, like Undoing a Tweet or posting longer videos should already be available and at no extra cost.
The most exciting feature seems to be the Undo Tweet that lets users edit a tweet before it goes live – a timer for up to 30 minutes can be set in which allows users to make changes to their post.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, however, has said in the past that it is technologically impossible to add an edit button and that this feature would ruin ‘the vibe’ of Twitter’s original design.
Twitter users @m_no1111 shared their thoughts on the Twitter Blue roll out, tweeting: ‘So it IS possible to have an edit button! But, Jack wants more money so no, thanks anyway. I’ll just live with my mistakes.’
Scroll down for video
More than 170,000 tweets discussing Twitter Blue are floating around the platform, with a majority bashing the subscription service – one user threatened to block others who pay for monthly fee
Twitter has officially rolled out its subscription service called Twitter Blue on Tuesday that charges users $2.99 monthly fee to access exclusive features
Along with revising tweets, users can also make longer videos, bookmark folders, read articles without ads and more.
According to Twitter user ‘Emerald Vermilion Shine’, ‘the ability to edit and correct a mistake in a Tweet isn’t a specialty feature that is worth paying for, it’s an incredibly basic feature.’
Twitter, however, emphasizes that the Undo Tweet feature is not a true edit button.
‘Undo Tweet allows you to pull back and revise Tweets that haven’t been posted on Twitter for the world to see yet,’ according to the company’s Help Center.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey , however, has said in the past that it is technologically impossible to add an edit button and that this feature would ruin ‘the vibe’ of Twitter’s original design
Twitter, however, emphasizes that the Undo Tweet feature is not a true edit button. ‘Undo Tweet allows you to pull back and revise Tweets that haven’t been posted on Twitter for the world to see yet,’ according to the company’s Help Center
Along with revising tweets, users can also make longer videos, bookmark folders, read articles without ads and more.
‘Once the Undo period is over, the Tweet is viewable to the public and you can either leave it or delete it, just as you normally would on Twitter. Tweets that are already viewable to the public can’t be edited.’
Users appear to have mixed feelings of Twitter Blue, as many have question how Twitter is still a free app, but also do not see the value in paying for upgraded features.
You can sign up for Twitter Blue from the menu page in your Twitter for iOS app.
Tuesday is the official launch of Twitter Blue in the U.S., but it has been available for iOS in Canada and Australia since earlier this year.
Many note that such features, like Undoing a Tweet or posting longer videos should already be available and at no extra cost
However, some users are excited to purchase the subscription service
Twitter, however, emphasizes that this does not mean it is trying to phase out the free platform.
Dorsey has focused on tweaking Twitter in the past to try to attract more people and increase revenue.
He doubled the number of characters to allowed in each tweet in most languages in 2017, from 140 to 280, and tried to limit the harassment of women and minorities.
Twitter has also struck deals with media companies to allow them to live stream news and entertainment shows.
The social media network divides its revenue into two categories: the sale of advertising services, along with data licensing and other services.
As of the third quarter of 2021, Twitter reported a revenue total of $1.28 billion, with $1.14 billion reported for advertising revenue.
Average monetizable daily active users (mDAU) was 211 million for Q3, compared to 187 million in the same period of the previous year and 206 million in the previous quarter.
