Twitter is preparing to jettison its remaining “legacy” verified accounts in favor of its new subscription service.
Key Details
- Twitter Blue subscriptions, as a means for verifying Twitter profiles, will soon totally replace Blue Checkmarks awarded by the social-media network before the Musk buyout.
- “Legacy blue checks will be removed soon. Those are the ones that are truly corrupt,” tweeted CEO Elon Musk.
- Verification for brands going forward may be more costly. Brands will reportedly be charged $1,000 per month for gold verification plus an additional $50 for affiliated accounts, The Information reports.
- Musk previously attempted a full rollout of verification subscriptions in November that proved disastrous.
Why It’s Important
Elon Musk’s reign over Twitter has been met with widespread skepticism, accusations of mismanagement and poor vision, and his own public reputation suffering, resulting in his investors at Tesla and SpaceX feeling pressured to distance themselves from their CEO publicly.
Musk made revitalizing the verification system of his new social media platform a priority shortly after purchasing it in late October. He attempted to roll out a verification subscription plan before scrapping it and relaunching it. The attempt only contributed to the chaos of the opening months of Twitter’s buyout, reflecting a lack of overall vision for the company.
Backing Up A Bit
The verification process for Twitter operated as a form of identity confirmation for prominent figures, politicians, and journalists to prevent random users from impersonating them. This system created something of a divide though, between “Blue Check” accounts and regular users, which many perceived as a form of an elitist class divide.
Musk’s replacement system allowed anyone willing to pay a monthly subscription to fake identities and resulted in several corporations having their stocks devalued by false accounts misrepresenting them online.
Notable Quote
“In a few months, we will remove all legacy blue checks. The way in which they were given out was corrupt and nonsensical,” Musk tweeted in December.
