Who’d have thought it – being one of the richest men in the world comes with a busy schedule. For Elon Musk, the head honcho of Tesla, SpaceX, and, of course, Twitter, the first four months of 2023 have presented headline after headline. The latest? Blue checks are officially gone. Ish.
In the past month, Musk merged Twitter Inc with X Corp – which we’re still convinced might be the brainchild of Lex Luther – launched the first fully integrated Starship (yes, despite its explosion, it was still an enormous success), and burnt the egos of celebrities the world over by snatching away their blue check verification badges.
Those that have kept up with the ever-evolving Twitter drama born as a result of Elon’s purchase of the company will be all too familiar with his revenue-led war on the blue check.
Hyperbole, of course, but the announcement and subsequent rollout of Twitter Blue, a subscription service that allows users to edit tweets, write longer form tweets, and possess the coveted blue verification badge, has divided the Twitter community in a big way.
Verification badges were originally given out to celebrities and individuals of note, including government officials, media personalities, recording artists, and so on, to show other users that they were the real deal.
Musk, who’s no fan of the system, promised it would be stripped away in time in favor of Twitter Blue.
Since implementing the new system, a series of different colored verification badges and tags have cropped up across the platform, such as the BBC’s yellow media badge and “publicly-funded media” tag.
Now, all remaining legacy badges have been removed, making Twitter Blue the only way to possess the old-school blue check.
Bizarrely enough, Elon Musk himself is paying the subscription fees of a select few, including LeBron James and Stephen King.
It’s worth noting that since Twitter Blue was introduced, Meta has followed suit, introducing Meta Verified, a subscription service that will give users access to tools and verification badges across Instagram and Facebook.
Clearly, every social media platform has lost sight of verification’s intended purpose, instead offering a monthly paid free-for-all.
