The blue tick is no longer a selling point for Twitter Blue (renamed X Blue) subscribers. On the contrary, the social network now offers users the possibility of hiding this element, which has become the symbol of the paid subscription, launched last November by Twitter at a price of 9.60 euros per month. Since then, people who gave in to the formula have been regularly accused of paying to obtain the precious certification badge, once awarded by the social network free of charge to the most popular accounts.

So, for users who want to avoid criticism, Twitter, renamed X, has found the answer. In the account settings, on the “profile personalization” tab, it is now possible, for a subscribed user, to click on “Hide your blue tick”. “The tick will be hidden on your profile and your publications”, explains the help center of the social network on its site. “The tick may still appear in some places and other features may not be available when your tick is hidden,” the Help Center warns, however.

However, the social network ensures that it continues to work on this option to make it as efficient as possible. For Twitter, X Blue’s interest is no longer in obtaining the tick and intends to convince users to pay thanks to its other assets. Over the months, Elon Musk’s teams have integrated new features into this subscription, some of which were previously available for free.

For example, the subscription gives access to XPro, the replacement for the TweetDeck software, designed to make the use of Twitter more pleasant and rendered unusable, last July, for users who do not pay the subscription. Another option now accessible only by being a subscriber: the possibility of exchanging messages between users without restriction.

The social network also offers new, long-awaited features. In particular, the possibility for subscribers to modify their message after publication or even before, with an option to preview said message a few minutes before it is posted. Another novelty put forward by Twitter (X), the possibility of writing longer texts, of 25,000 characters against 280 characters for non-subscribers.

The X Blue subscription has been Elon Musk’s main project since his takeover of Twitter for $44 billion last October. Launched this fall, the social network teams are betting on this subscription model to make Twitter (X) profitable. Since the takeover, advertisers have fled the platform en masse. Last July, the billionaire himself acknowledged that the social network had lost approximately half of its advertising revenue.