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After a failed initial launch shortly following Elon Musk’s takeover, Twitter has relaunched Twitter Blue as a monthly subscription. The premium Twitter offering will offer, among other things, a blue checkmark next to your username.

While the checkmark had previously identified “verified” people of importance, it will be interesting to see if the insignia’s authenticity and importance remains now that anyone who wants to pay can get one. That said, there are some more changes coming to the checkmark system, including the addition of gold and grey checkmarks:

“In addition to these changes, starting today, we’re replacing the “official” label with a gold checkmark on some business accounts on Twitter. Soon, we’ll also add a gray checkmark for government and multilateral accounts. ”

— Twitter

The new Twitter Blue is currently in “Early Access” mode and includes these key features:

• Blue checkmark - Applied to profiles with a verified phone number once approved.

• Priority visibility (coming soon) - Tweets “rocket to the top of replied, mentions and search.”

• Fewer ads (coming soon) - 50% fewer ads shown.

• Longer videos (coming soon) - Blue users can upload videos up to 60 minutes long in 1080p.

Some features will also be available, but Twitter notes that they are part of “Twitter Labs” so these may or may not remain features for long:

• Edit Tweets - Edit published Tweets up to 5 times within 30 minutes.

• NFT Profile Pictures - “Personal flair” can be added with NFTs you may own.

All of this is available for $8 a month—with a small catch.

• As with all things Elon these days, the announcement does come with a bit of shade: Those subscribing to Blue via an Apple iOS device will pay a markup of $3 per month.

• As explained by Social Media Today, this appears to be a way of passing along Apple’s App Store “tax” to users.

• Users can simply avoid the fee by subscribing via the web instead of on their phones.

Why it Matters

Under Musk’s ownership, Twitter is making big changes in an effort to make the company profitable (and for Musk to get back some of his purchase price—which most saw as overpaying—as well as his reputation for brilliance).

At the same time, the changes focus on some key aspects of what to appears to be the longer-term vision for the app:

• Incentivize creators via additional monetization.

• Go after YouTube by providing longer-form video content.

• Cater to the needs and desires of power users (and get some of them to pay).