Twitter would ceremoniously remove the obsolete verification checkmarks on April 1. While it appears to have put those plans on hold for now, the Elon Musk-led social network has revised the label attached to the tick to make it virtually impossible to differentiate between those who earned it and anyone who made it. has paid.
When users tap or click the blue check mark, the label now reads, “This account has been verified because it subscribes to Twitter Blue or is an outdated verified account.”
After Twitter introduced verification through the Blue plan, the label on the obsolete verified accounts read: “This is an obsolete verified account. It may or may not be remarkable.” On the other hand, the label on the Blue account showed, “This account has been verified because it is subscribed to Twitter Blue.”
This made it possible to distinguish between two sets of verified accounts. But the new sign makes it difficult to separate the two different verifications and identify notable accounts.
Over the weekend, the New York Times also lost its verified check after it refused to pay for the verification service. In a response to users posting a meme about the publication not paying for verification, Twitter CEO Elon Musk said“Oh okay, we’ll take it off.”
In recent days, many celebrities, including LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes II, Darius Slay, Monica Lewinsky and William Shatner, have said they will not pay for a tick.
Reporter Matt Binder pointed out that Musk deleted a tweet saying that Twitter will give “a few weeks’ grace” to aging verified account holders to subscribe to Twitter Blue before removing verification flags from those who don’t pay. The deleted tweet also said the social network will uncheck if accounts specifically refuse to pay for Twitter Blue.
Musk has promised that after April 15, the “For You” algorithmic timeline will only show verified accounts along with the accounts a person follows. Over the weekend, Tesla’s CEO also said Twitter will soon add the date of verification to user profiles.
The social network is also reportedly working on a government identity verification feature for Blue subscribers, which will allow them hide their checkmarks.
