Twitter chief Elon Musk to hold off relaunch of Twitter Blue

On Monday, Twitter's new owner Elon Musk said that the social media company was holding off the relaunch of its blue check subscription service — a delay from his initial tentative timeline, to bring back the service on the platform.

"Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation," Musk said in a tweet.

"Will probably use different color check for organizations than individuals."

The coveted blue check mark was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists, and other public figures.

However, a subscription option — open to anyone prepared to pay — was rolled out earlier this month to help Twitter grow revenue as Musk fights to retain advertisers.

The platform had paused its recently announced $8 blue check subscription service, as fake accounts mushroomed and had said that its sought-after blue check subscription service would be relaunched on November 29.

Musk also tweeted that Twitter added 1.6 million users this past week — "another all-time high".

Advertisers on Twitter, including big companies such as General Motors, Mondelez International, Volkswagen AG, have paused advertising on the platform, as they grapple with the new boss.

Hundreds of Twitter employees have also been estimated to have quit last week, following a Thursday deadline by Musk that staffers were to either sign up for "long hours at high intensity", or leave.

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