What are Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo’s similarities? They are no longer authenticated on Twitter as of today.
Thursday, the social media behemoth began removing the once-coveted blue checkmark from thousands of accounts.
The decision is a result of owner Elon Musk’s efforts to transform the social media company into a profitable enterprise.
Users who desire to retain the tick beside their name must subscribe to Twitter Blue for $84 per year (£67).
Others retained their marks while others lost theirs.
LeBron James has a blue cross, which is a “complimentary subscription” from Elon Musk, despite his assertion that he would not pay to be verified.
Stephen King and William Shatner, according to the billionaire, also received the same offer.
As the transition occurred, many previously verified users took to Twitter to make jokes or lament the loss.
The US Olympian Lolo Jones noted that her dating profile is still verified.
Other users remarked on the irony of actor Jason Sudeikis losing his verification while his fictional character, Ted Lasso, had not.
Ice T quipped that the outcry over the checks was unwarranted.
“The fact that we’re even discussing Blue tick marks is a sad moment in our society,” he wrote.
After a former professional baseball player sued the social media behemoth over imposter accounts, the company first introduced the verification feature in 2009.
The blue tick became a symbol of status and authority. However, in the new Twitter universe, Mr. Musk desires that users pay to be verified.
The decision to monetize verification could herald a massive shift in the platform’s culture and power.
In the days before Twitter verification, Kanye West, Shaq, and Ewan McGregor were among the first celebrities to address impersonation on Twitter. After the badges were deleted, a celebrity’s following may be the only way to tell them apart.
Within a few hours of losing verification, an account pretending to be Hillary Clinton, replete with the same profile picture as the former US senator, “announced” she would run for president again.
According to Twitter’s new verification scheme, the gold, grey, and blue badges are intended to provide additional context regarding how an account was verified.
However, the absence of verification already confuses. In New York City, a new Twitter handle claims to be the “official government Twitter account.”
These are the types of tweets that could propagate misinformation, according to experts.
Mr. Musk has attempted to portray the decision to eliminate verification as an effort to democratize the site’s content. Critics, however, argue that the move will amplify misinformation because Twitter Blue subscribers will receive preferential rankings; Mr. Musk has stated that only verified accounts will be displayed in the site’s prominent For You stream.
Experts and social media monitors fear that the increase in sponsored verification will amplify misinformation on the site. If this were to occur, it could frighten away even more advertisers, eroding any additional revenue Twitter derives from its verification subscription model.
However, Mr. Musk stated that suffering is a part of the transformation.
“I believe we’re headed in the right direction,” he told. Overall, I believe the trend to be positive.
