Say what you want about Twitter, you can’t deny it’s been crazy productive over at HQ.
The blue bird announced a boatload of updates over the weekend…
Hooray, more control: Twitter is rolling out an option that helps you prevent your ads from appearing between tweets that contain certain keywords.
Basically it lets you “flag” tweets that don’t align with your brand values. Sounds useful.
Free handles: Twitter is making up to 1.5B @handles available again, Elon Musk said in a Tweet.
Twitter will soon start freeing the name space of 1.5 billion accounts
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
These handles mostly belong to dormant accounts, bot accounts, and deceased users.
Apparently Twitter is trying to find ways to memorialize deceased users in some way, too. Interesting.
I’m blue, da ba dee: Finally, Twitter Blue officially relaunched today. You can subscribe for $8/month on the web or $11/month on iOS and get subscriber-only features.
we’re relaunching @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DvvsLoSO50
— X (@X) December 10, 2022
Additions include the option to Edit tweet, 1080p video uploads, reader mode, and the famed blue “verified” check mark, which you’ll see after you pass review.
You’ll also be able to change the handle, display name, and profile photo, but you will temporarily lose the checkmark until you’ve been “re-verified.”
Why we care: Twitter giving greater control over placements may help advertisers feel more secure despite the platform’s moderation concerns.
Also, your ideal brand handle might have been taken by an inactive account and now there’s a chance you can claim it for your business. And you can get verified. Not bad!