Days after pausing the relaunch of verification process on Twitter citing a rise in imposter accounts, Elon Musk today tweeted that the'Twitter Blue' service will be "tentatively" launched on Friday next week.
The social media platform will use different colour checks for organisations and individuals, Musk said.
"Sorry for the delay, we're tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week. Gold check mark for companies, a grey check for government, and a blue check mark for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates. Painful, but necessary, Elon Musk said in a tweet.
On Tuesday, Musk had announced that the relaunch of the 'Blue Verified' badge on Twitter will be temporarily suspended "until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation"
Musk had introduced the $8 blue tick verification plan earlier this month, but it resulted in the mushrooming of a lot of fake accounts. "Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation. Will probably use different color check for organizations than individuals," Musk had tweeted.
Musk has been defending the much-criticised paid verification plan by saying that the blue checkmark will be the "great leveler".
Before Musk acquired Twitter, the platform offered free identity verification for organisations and public figures.
Musk's first two weeks as Twitter's owner has been marked by rapid change and chaos. Twitter sacked half of its 7,500-strong staff just a week after his blockbuster takeover.
Twitter Blue is part of the billionaire's plans to diversify the sources of revenue for the company, whose financial health depends largely on advertising revenue. He has been scrambling to find new ways for Twitter to make money after his mammoth $44 billion deal.
