What do Twitter’s gold, grey, blue checkmarks, official and automated labels mean?

Twitter Blue subscription was relaunched last week. The company, owned by Elon Musk, also replaced the “official” label and rolled out gold checkmarks and more.

In a blog post, the company said Twitter Blue is $8/month on web, and $11/month for those who sign up on iOS. Subscribers who sign up on one platform will have Twitter Blue access on all supported platforms (iOS, Android, and web).

“Existing Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to upgrade, cancel, or auto-renew their subscription at the new price. Prices may vary by region. We plan to offer subscriptions on Android soon,” it said.

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“Subscribing to Twitter Blue is now available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. We plan to roll out Blue to more countries soon,” it added.

Further, Twitter said that it was replacing the “official” label with a gold checkmark on some business accounts on Twitter. It also added a grey checkmark as well. It said it applies visual identity signals like labels and checkmarks on account profiles to provide more context about — and help distinguish — different types of accounts. Some of these indicators are applied by Twitter, while others are triggered by user action.

What do blue, gold, grey checkmarks, official labels and automated account labels mean?

Blue checkmark

The blue checkmark means two different things – either that an account was verified under Twitter’s previous verification criteria (active, notable, and authentic), or that the account has an active subscription to Twitter’s new Twitter Blue subscription product and “meets certain requirements”.

Gold checkmark and square profile picture

The gold checkmark indicates that the account is an official business account through Twitter Blue for Business.

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Grey checkmark

The grey checkmark indicates that an account represents a government institution or official, or a multilateral organisation. Specifically, eligible government institutions include: national and local crisis response, public safety, law enforcement, and regulatory agencies, embassies, and other major national level agencies. Eligible elected or appointed officials include: heads of state, foreign official spokespeople, top diplomatic leaders, cabinet members (national level). Eligible multilateral organizations include institutional accounts, top officials, and official spokespeople, Twitter said.

Official labels

The Official profile label is applied to commercial companies including business partners, major brands, media outlets, and publishers.

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State-affiliated media labels and government labels

According to Twitter, labels on state-affiliated profiles provide additional context about accounts that are controlled by certain state-affiliated media entities and individuals closely associated with those entities. Government labels apply to accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy from main countries where Twitter operates.

“These labels also contain information about the country the account is affiliated with and whether it is operated by a government representative or a state-affiliated media entity. Additionally, a small icon of a flag is included, to signal the account’s status as a government account or of a podium for state-affiliated media. Learn more about government and state-affiliated account labels here,” the company said.

Automated account labels

Automated labels provide transparency by helping you identify if an account is a bot or not. When an account displays the “automated” account label you know the account is generating automated content not produced by a human. Automated account labels — currently in testing — appear on account profiles under profile names and handles, Twitter said.

Self-selected – Professional category labels

Professional category labels are selected by people on Twitter when they convert to a Professional Account. As per Twitter, it does not control the selection of these labels, and users may change their professional category at any time.

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