Twitter finally ditched the free blue verification tick for celebs, politicians, and journalists – a move Elon Musk had been promising since he took over the platform with his $44 billion buyout last year.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk introduced an $8 monthly charge for the blue tick along with other features, as part of a paid subscription service called Twitter Blue.
This move has led to thousands of legacy accounts, including prominent figures such as Pope Francis and Bill Gates, losing their verified checkmarks as they did not subscribe to the service by the April 20 deadline.
Blue ticks were typically reserved for politicians, celebrities, journalists, and media organizations. This verification helps users identify impersonator accounts and misinformation. Under Musk's leadership, verified government accounts now receive a grey checkmark, and verified media outlets are given a gold tick, although the process for obtaining these designations remains unclear.
Following the removal of blue checkmarks from legacy accounts, some celebrities and notable individuals have expressed their concerns about the increased risk of impersonation over the past days.
In response, Musk personally paid the Twitter Blue fees for a select few, including LeBron James, Stephen King and William Shatner.
Additionally, after tweet exchanges with actor Charlie Sheen and venture capitalist Paul Graham, Musk may have also paid for their accounts to regain its blue tick.
Graham, the founder of Y Combinator, tweeted on Friday: "Deleting the original blue checks makes it easy for the first time to see what proportion of users pay for them. Of the 723 accounts I follow, 136 have paid, 28 are either verified organizations or associated with one, and 559 have neither."
Musk replied, "I’ll pay for yours."
Graham then suggested the introduction of a feature that allows users to buy blue checks for accounts they want to support, and promised to pay the gesture forward by purchasing blue ticks for ten more accounts.
As Graham's account soon regained its blue tick, it remains unclear whether Musk paid for it, which would imply his agreement with the proposal to introduce a new feature allowing users to buy blue ticks for others.
If implemented, this change may reshape the way users interact with Twitter's verification system and support one another on the platform.
Well that's nice of you; thanks, Elon.
This might possibly be a good feature to add, to let people buy blue checks for accounts they want to support. If you add it, I'll pay your gesture forward by buying blue checks for 10 more accounts.
— Paul Graham (@paulg) April 21, 2023
You’re welcome!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2023
