Twitter Purge: A Mixed Bag for Verified Users
As the clock struck midnight on Saturday, some Twitter users woke up expecting their blue verification check marks to have disappeared in a previously announced purge by Elon Musk. However, it appears that only one high-profile account - the New York Times main account - had its coveted badge removed, leaving many legacy blue check holders intact.
Under Musk's new system, which took effect on April 1, verified users would have to pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue subscription service in order to stay verified. However, instead of carrying out this plan, the platform introduced a new label that appended to blue checks, stating "This account is verified because it's subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account." This change has created confusion among users and may inadvertently make it easier for scammers to impersonate high-profile individuals.
Musk had been threatening to take away legacy blue check marks since shortly after he bought Twitter last fall. The billionaire claimed that the new system would treat everyone equally, with paid features driving revenue and helping him pay off significant debt after acquiring the platform for $44 billion. However, critics argue that this approach may actually widen the gap between high-profile users who have to pay for verification and those who don't.
In a separate move, Twitter's blue bird logo was replaced on Monday with doge, a meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin surged by 20% on Monday, further highlighting the platform's connection to its new owner.
The mixed bag of results from this latest Twitter update underscores the challenges Musk faces in balancing his vision for the platform with user expectations and concerns about security. As he continues to navigate these changes, one thing is clear: only time will tell if Musk's efforts to restructure the platform will ultimately benefit or harm its users.
As the clock struck midnight on Saturday, some Twitter users woke up expecting their blue verification check marks to have disappeared in a previously announced purge by Elon Musk. However, it appears that only one high-profile account - the New York Times main account - had its coveted badge removed, leaving many legacy blue check holders intact.
Under Musk's new system, which took effect on April 1, verified users would have to pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue subscription service in order to stay verified. However, instead of carrying out this plan, the platform introduced a new label that appended to blue checks, stating "This account is verified because it's subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account." This change has created confusion among users and may inadvertently make it easier for scammers to impersonate high-profile individuals.
Musk had been threatening to take away legacy blue check marks since shortly after he bought Twitter last fall. The billionaire claimed that the new system would treat everyone equally, with paid features driving revenue and helping him pay off significant debt after acquiring the platform for $44 billion. However, critics argue that this approach may actually widen the gap between high-profile users who have to pay for verification and those who don't.
In a separate move, Twitter's blue bird logo was replaced on Monday with doge, a meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin surged by 20% on Monday, further highlighting the platform's connection to its new owner.
The mixed bag of results from this latest Twitter update underscores the challenges Musk faces in balancing his vision for the platform with user expectations and concerns about security. As he continues to navigate these changes, one thing is clear: only time will tell if Musk's efforts to restructure the platform will ultimately benefit or harm its users.
... i thought that blue check mark was just gonna disappear 
but nope, only some people are affected 
and now they gotta pay for it? $8 a month? ugh 
that's like paying for a badge 
isn't it supposed to be free or something? 
this whole thing is so confusing 
and what's with the doge logo 
i mean, i get it, Musk likes it, but come on... 
. I mean, who needs a free pass to be verified, right? It's about time someone made those scammers think twice before trying to impersonate legit accounts 
. And yeah, paying $8 a month for verification is actually kinda reasonable, especially if you're just gonna use it as a way to spam your followers with links 
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. maybe it'll encourage ppl to actually use the paid features instead of just having a blue check mark for bragging rights 
. but seriously, why r ppl so attached to their legacy blue checks? it's not like they're doing anything special 
but like some ppl lost their badge lol and its not even consistent 
I mean, who needs all those legacy check holders cluttering up their timeline anyway? And yay for being able to pay $8 a month to keep your "verified" status 
...
so now we gotta pay 8 bucks a month to keep our blue badges or get some new label that's just confusing 
. And now they have to pay $8/month for Twitter Blue? That's like, a lot of money, fam 
! But I guess it's better than nothing, right?
? Like, does it really make sense to add a note saying "This account is verified because you paid for Twitter Blue"? It just seems like more hassle, you know? And what about all the scammers out there who are gonna love this new system 
He literally just made a mess and now it's causing more problems than solutions