Coinspeaker
Twitter Stripes Many High-Profile Users of Blue Checks
Yesterday was a historic day for American multinational micro-messaging platform Twitter Inc as it striped its previously verified users of their Blue check marks. While the move has been tagged by many critics as a rude and dangerous precedent to set, the removal of the Blue Checks has been lauded by proponents in one of the hottest debates in the history of the social media ecosystem.
The removal of the Blue Checkmarks was an encompassing one, and while political leaders were affected, popular artists and influencers were largely not left behind. Among the most shocking figures who saw their Blue Ticks removed, there are Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, and even Pope Francis all lost their badges.
The Badges were earlier introduced to signal authenticity of an account and it is often conferred after strict verifications. Following the takeover of Twitter in a $44 billion acquisition deal, Elon Musk started sharing ideas on key restructuring that will take place on the platform. One of these was the retention of the Blue Checks for paying users only.
“We are removing legacy verified checkmarks,” the company said in a statement on Twitter. “To remain verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue.”
Elon Musk has reiterated that he is also paying to keep his verification badge on. According to reports on Twitter at the time the check marks were being removed, some celebrities revealed that they have not subscribed to Twitter Blue, but still retains their own checkmarks.
Based on Musk’s tweets, he is paying to keep the verification of many celebrities on and he named three beneficiaries including Lebron James, Stephen King, and actor William Shatner.
Twitter Blue Checks Removal, Innovating for Recognition
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, he has been innovating with a lot of products and services that have been distinguishing its services apart. In the pre-Elon Musk Twitter, the verification was the same for both individuals and organizations irrespective of their delegations.
For the Twitter Blue subscription, only individuals retain the Blue Check while organizations that subscribed to the service will be given a yellow tick. There is also a special emblem or tick that is given to government officials and it is gray in color.
Twitter is reportedly charging $1000 monthly for the yellow checks while it has an exemption for its top 500 advertisers Additionally, the exemption can also be extended to the top 10,000 most followed companies on its platform that has been previously verified.
Despite the resistance and criticisms, Elon Musk believes the removal of the Twitter Blue check will serve two distinct problems. Solve the impersonation challenges on the platform while also helping the firm to raise revenue, a complimentary move to the job cuts to lower operating expenses the firm has instituted in the past.
