Twitter Launches Blue Scription Service in the United States

Social media platform Twitter launched its Blue subscription service in the U.S. and New Zealand this week, offering ad-free access to 300 news sites for U.S. users.

The feature will be available for $2.99 a month for Twitter iOS, Android and web users, Twitter announced.

The news sites include The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic and Insider. It doesn’t include access to paywalled articles those news outlets may have, a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC.

Twitter has been testing the subscription product with Australian and Canadian users since June, but Tuesday marked the first time the feature is available to U.S. users.

The Blue subscription product includes special features reserved for Twitter power users, such as the ability to undo a tweet or customize the Twitter app icon.

Twitter will pay a portion of its users’ subscriptions to participating news sites based on what users read.

“Our goal is that each site makes 50% more per person than they would make serving ads to that person,” Twitter’s senior director of product, Tony Haile, said. “At Twitter, we recognize that a great public conversation requires a thriving journalism ecosystem, so with Blue we’re not just trying to enable a better internet for subscribers but a better internet for journalism, too.”

The company additionally launched two new features for Twitter Blue users on Tuesday, including the ability to upload videos of up to 10 minutes in length. That’s more than the two minutes and 20 seconds limit that is available for standard Twitter users.

Twitter Blue users will also be able to pin their most important DM conversations to the top of their inboxes, making them easier to find.

“What we really are trying to achieve here with the subscription is a set of features that we think resonate with the power users who want more control, want more customization over Twitter,” said Sara Beykpour, Twitter senior director of product.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.