Twitter Pauses Blue Subscription Service
Twitter has paused its $8/month Blue subscription service, which allowed people to pay for a verification check mark after users were abusing it to impersonate brands and famous people.
What do businesses need to know?
Twitter launched the service earlier this week in its iPhone app, allowing users to buy a checkmark that had previously been used to show that an account was verified or official. Now, the iPhone app no longer shows an option to sign up for Twitter Blue. According to CNBC, the paid subscription service led to a plethora of pranksters creating imposter accounts on Twitter.
According to one current employee who chose to remain anonymous said an account resembling the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly was created. It caused a big problem when the “company” tweeted out that their insulin would be free — causing the stock price to drop sharply. This ripping effect on Twitter presents a big problem for advertisers, some of which have already paused their ad spend.
In Other News…
Kim Kardashian is to pay a fine for touting crypto without disclosing she was paid for the promotion. She is now the poster person for why the role of influencers and influencer marketing needs immediate reexamination.
What do businesses need to know?
With mega-celebrities at one end of the spectrum and common folks vlogging at the other, it’s important to shortlist the type of influencer best suited to the needs of the brand. Budget aside, this choice is a function of the product category and its value proposition. For a successful long-term partnership, the key is to align a brand’s value proposition with those of the chosen influencer.
In Other News…
For a lot of younger company leaders and entrepreneurs, the impending recession might be your first economic challenge, notwithstanding the pandemic.
What do businesses need to know?
You might not actually see the slowdown that is coming. But you need to look at the dots of information that are already surfacing. Inflation is high, supply chain issues, slowing vehicle sales, housing slowdown, large drop off in new mortgages, hiring freezes at major companies, layoffs in some industries and the overall effect on the stock market in terms of investor confidence.