There was a time when having the Twitter verification was something coveted and desired. If Twitter verified you, it meant that you were someone relevant in your field. Hence, you were worthy of having the blue checkmark. I had it, and it was cool, I’m not going to lie.
But since the arrival of Elon Musk, everything has changed. I have lost my blue badge, and with me, everyone who doesn’t pay up every month. Even celebrities and highly relevant individuals have to pay for the checkmark. If you don’t pay, you can’t have it… and now, it’s become a stigma.
Unfortunately for those who pay, that badge has become a sort of indelible mark that clearly shows they are Elon Musk’s fans and support the new caste system of the X app. This is so well-known that in the old Twitter, they have decided to lend a hand to Blue subscribers.
Pay to stand out… and have the verified taken away from you
On early Tuesday, Twitter added a note about the “Hide your blue badge” option on the platform’s verification help page. This change means that the blue verification badge will no longer appear alongside account profile pages or their posts.
The site explains that using the blue features may still identify you as a paying subscriber, and some functions may not be available at all while the badge is hidden.
The feature is available in the profile customization tab for users in the account settings.
The blue badge grants users features such as the option to edit posts, a 10,000-character limit, 50% fewer ads, and most importantly: priority ranking in conversations and searches.
To incentivize more people to pay the $8 verification fee, Musk experimented by granting free verification to some verified legacy accounts and celebrities like the writer Stephen King.
In May, Twitter changed the blue verification labels to no longer mention whether the verification was paid or granted.
With this move, Musk has allowed numerous trolls to impersonate official accounts and unleash chaos on his social network. There have been instances of accounts posing as Nintendo and posting obscene pictures of Mario Bros.
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