Twitter's subscription service, Twitter Blue, goes global

People with Twitter Blue also watch fewer ads, can write longer tweets (up to 4,000 characters), can edit and undo posts, have the ability to bookmark folders, and can customize their navigation bar. The service was previously only available in around 50 countries.

In addition to the announcement of Twitter Blue's global availability, the social media platform also stated that it plans to retire its previous verification program on April 1st. This means that accounts with legacy verified checkmarks will lose their verification and if they want to have a verification checkmark, they will need to subscribe to Twitter Blue. The previous verification program granted a blue checkmark to accounts based on criteria such as ID and notoriety, but it was often criticized for its inconsistent approval process.

You can sign up for Twitter Blue via the Web, your iPhone, or your Android phone. In the US, the subscription costs $8 per month or $84 per year if you sign up via your web browser and $11 per month or $114.99 per year if you sign up via the iOS or Android versions of the Twitter app.

Twitter Blue costs more if you sign up through the mobile apps because Twitter wants to avoid being charged the 30% fee that both Apple and Google charge for in-app purchases, thus passing the cost on to you instead. That is why you should sign up for Twitter Blue via your web browser.