What is Twitter Blue and is it worth it?
If you spend time on Twitter, you’ve probably heard the phrase “Twitter Blue” at some point and wondered what exactly it is. We’re not talking about the blue checkmarks here — we’re talking about the premium version of Twitter.
That’s right. There’s a paid tier for Twitter that many people don’t even know exists that launched in July of 2021. Don’t worry — we’ll explain everything below.
What is Twitter Blue?
Essentially, Twitter Blue is a paid subscription. Twitter users who choose to pay a monthly fee for it get access to certain extra features and ways to customize their app interface.
Twitter Blue is optional and you certainly don’t need it to enjoy Twitter. Think of it as a paid add-on that is supposed to enhance your Twitter experience.
It initially rolled out in Australia and Canada before launching in the U.S. in November of 2021.
What are the benefits of Twitter Blue?
Twitter Blue offers premium features, ways to personalize your app interface, and early access to features that Twitter is working on but hasn’t released to everyone else.
When it comes to premium features, you can expect to see things like Bookmark folders (a way to organize your bookmarked tweets by placing them in folders), Reader (an enhanced experience for reading tweet threads), Top Articles (a view that prioritizes popular tweets and articles from accounts you follow), an undo tweet option, and ad-free articles.
In terms of app interface personalization options, Twitter Blue provides access to custom navigation, custom app icons, and app color themes.
With Twitter Blue, you’ll also have early access to Twitter Blue Labs features (features Twitter is working on but hasn’t officially released yet). Such features can include the ability to upload videos in 1080p, the ability to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length, and the ability to add an NFT (non-fungible token) profile picture to your Twitter profile.
One thing to note, however, is that while a Twitter Blue subscription does entitle you to the above features, there are caveats. The first one is that while you do have access to these extra features, not all of them are available on every platform. For example, while the Bookmark folders feature is available on all platforms (iOS, Android, and web), the custom app icons option is only available for iOS and Android, but not on the web. The custom color themes option is only available on iOS.
The second caveat is related to those Twitter Blue Labs features. With a subscription, you’re able to access them, but their availability can “change over time.” That means they can lose their exclusivity (as they are released to all Twitter users) or they can be taken away outright. And like the non-Blue Labs Twitter Blue features, their availability on certain platforms varies.
Twitter Blue’s drawbacks
Like any other product, there are cons. There are a couple of drawbacks to the Twitter Blue service you may want to consider.
It’s not totally ad-free. With regular, free Twitter, there’s an understanding that the free service serves ads while using Twitter. But unfortunately, paying for a Twitter Blue subscription does not give you an ad-free experience. There is an ad-free articles feature, but that only means you can read ad-free articles from publishers that are a part of the “Twitter Blue Publishers network.”
Secondly, Twitter Blue does not offer a free trial. So you can’t test out the service for a few days without paying for it first, and Twitter Blue subscriptions are generally non-refundable — with limited exceptions.
Does Twitter Blue work on all accounts?
At this time, Twitter Blue isn’t available in all countries. Twitter Blue is currently available in the following countries: The U.S., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
Twitter Blue is accessible for both the iOS and Android mobile apps and on the web for those countries.
How much does Twitter Blue cost?
The price of a Twitter Blue subscription actually varies depending on your region. In the U.S., it’s $2.99 per month. To see how much it costs in your country, you’ll see the price listed in the Subscribe button under Twitter Blue in your profile.
How to set up Twitter Blue
Accessing the sign-up for the Twitter Blue service is actually fairly easy. Just follow these instructions:
On the mobile app: Open the app. Select your Profile icon to open your profile menu. In the menu that appears, select Twitter Blue. On the Twitter Blue screen, look at the Subscribe for button at the bottom of your screen. The button will list the monthly price.
On the web: Open your browser. Go to Twitter.com and log into your account if you haven’t already. On the left side of your screen is a menu of options. Select More. From the menu that pops up, select Twitter Blue. On the pop-up screen that appears, look at the Subscribe for button at the bottom. This button will show your monthly price for Twitter Blue.
Is Twitter Blue worth the money?
It depends. Casual Twitter users may not see the value in paying for a monthly subscription, as they may not have much use for all of the features offered by it. Super-users or brand accounts may find Twitter Blue’s features to be more useful since they’re on the app more often. Super-users may also enjoy testing out all of the experimental features Twitter Blue Labs has as well.
The undo Tweet feature might be the most enticing benefit of the service, even if it’s not quite the edit button we all desperately want.
Whether or not you consider Twitter Blue as worth the money is ultimately up to you. But if you only casually use Twitter, you probably don’t need or won’t care enough about Twitter Blue to spend money on it.
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