Twitter set to get big updates after Elon Musk takes over: Paid Blue tick, and more

Elon Musk has just joined as the new boss of Twitter and he has already made some big decisions for the platform. The billionaire has plans to charge users for using Blue tick badge on their profile. While this is yet to be implemented, a lot of people have expressed disappointment, purely because of the high price that Musk will be asking users to pay. Apart from this, Twitter is also set to get character limit expansion as well as Explore page after logging out of the platform. Vine service is also expected to make a return. Here are some of the major updates that Twitter is set to get.

Blue tick won’t be free

Elon Musk has confirmed on Twitter that the verification process is being revamped. While he didn’t reveal any other details, The Verge reported that the platform will start charging users for Blue tick and if people fail to pay for it, then they will lose the verification badge.

The cited source asserted that Blue tick will soon be restricted to Twitter Blue subscription and the price of this membership will also increase to $19.99, which is around Rs 1,600 in India when converted. People who are familiar with the matter told The Verge that Musk has given Twitter engineers a deadline of November 7 to launch the paid verification feature or they will lose their jobs.

Users will only get 90 days to buy the subscription and if they don’t get it within the mentioned period, then the blue tick will be removed from their profile. The feature will first likely be available in the US and it is then expected to arrive in other countries. The Twitter Blue subscription is currently not available in India and is only visible in select regions.

Character limit expansion for tweets

If you have been frustrated about character limit for tweets, then there is good news for you. Elon Musk has confirmed that Twitter needs to have "long-form tweets,” which is due for a long time now. A user asked Musk if Twitter “can get rid of character limits or at least expand it.” To this question, Musk said, “Absolutely.” At the moment, Twitter supports 280 character limit per tweet. This will likely be expanded, but it is unknown when the update will arrive.

Vine service could make a return

Elon Musk is running a poll on Twitter, asking users to tell him whether they want Vine back on Twitter. For those who don’t know, Vine was a short-form video hosting service, which was founded in 2012. It was later acquired by Twitter. It was launched way before TikTok and people loved the idea of sharing six-second-long looping video clips.

Now, there are chances that we will get to see this feature on Twitter, considering 70 percent of people have voted in favour of Vine. Musk has previously expressed his liking for short video platforms like TikTok as they are pretty engaging.

Content moderation

Just a few days back, Elon Musk has clearly stated on Twitter that a content moderation council will be formed with widely diverse viewpoints. Though, no decisions have been made yet related to content moderation policy. In the near future, users will likely see some policy change in terms of free speech on Twitter.

Musk has previously said that it wants to offer users a free speech platform, rather than something that will “generate more hate” and “divide society.” He doesn’t want Twitter to become a free for all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences. Well, he does have good intentions, but only time will tell if he will be able to fulfil its promises.

Explore page when you log out Twitter

Those who will log out of Twitter will start seeing the Explore page, where they will be able to check trending tweets and news stories. This could be a good addition for those who would want to check Twitter without an account.