Twitter has launched “Blue for Business” in an effort to clear up which accounts are affiliated with companies and brands
“We’re launching the pilot of Blue for Business so beginning today you’ll start seeing company badges on select profiles. We’ll soon be expanding the program and look forward to having more businesses added in the new year!” Twitter product manager Esther Crawford, announced in a Tweet (opens in new tab).
But with more badges seemingly appearing by the day, has Twitter verification become too confusing?
Twitter Blue for Business
The new launch means some eligible companies will now be able to share their brand logo with employees and/or associates, which will reside next to their name (in a square shape) and any other verification mark, for example, the @TwitterSupport account, which is affiliated with the @Twitter account.
An article on the Twitter Business website (opens in new tab) explains that eligible accounts may include leadership members, support handles, employees, teams, and so on. Each affiliate will be verified and linked to the parent account in a process that involves the company detailing who should be included.
The Blue for Business pilot scheme is open to an undisclosed “select group” of businesses, with a wider rollout envisioned for 2023.
Another change that has taken place recently sees business profile pictures changed from the classic circle thumbnail to a square one, which Twitter hopes will make it easier for users to distinguish legitimate business accounts.
Twitter is yet to announce whether this will be a chargeable feature, as is the case with the latest round of blue verification checkmarks (known as Twitter Blue), which costs $8/£8 per month (or $11/£11 per month when a user signs up on an iOS device).
In summary, a blue checkmark can either mean a legacy verified account or a paying Twitter Blue subscriber, while the golden checkmark denotes a company (which will also benefit from a square profile picture). Grey checkmarks signify certain profiles like governments and media houses, while a square company logo means that the account is associated with a parent company account. Got it?
