Elon Musk's plan to purify Twitter's blue check mark system backfired, with the billionaire ending up singling out one prominent account instead of a mass purge as intended.
Instead of rolling out a blanket ban on legacy blue checks for verified users, Musk and his team focused on targeting the main account of The New York Times, which had expressed reluctance to pay for verification. After posting a meme poking fun at the idea of paying for verification, the Times' account was removed from Twitter's blue check list.
This move comes as part of Musk's ongoing campaign against legacy blue checks, which he claims are not necessary and can be expensive. Under his new system, users must pay $8 per month to join the platform's subscription service in order to maintain their verified status. However, most legacy blue check holders found that their verification marks had been appended with a new label reading: "This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account."
This change has raised concerns over whether users are being treated equally under the new system. While Musk claims that his changes will treat everyone equally, critics argue that this approach may drive revenue and create more confusion among users.
In a separate move, Twitter's blue bird logo was replaced with doge, the meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin shot up 20% on Monday following its appearance at the top of the site.
Musk's decision to target The New York Times' account highlights how his platform is often guided by whims rather than clear policy decisions. As a result, many users are left wondering what exactly will happen next, and whether Musk's actions are truly in their best interests.
Instead of rolling out a blanket ban on legacy blue checks for verified users, Musk and his team focused on targeting the main account of The New York Times, which had expressed reluctance to pay for verification. After posting a meme poking fun at the idea of paying for verification, the Times' account was removed from Twitter's blue check list.
This move comes as part of Musk's ongoing campaign against legacy blue checks, which he claims are not necessary and can be expensive. Under his new system, users must pay $8 per month to join the platform's subscription service in order to maintain their verified status. However, most legacy blue check holders found that their verification marks had been appended with a new label reading: "This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account."
This change has raised concerns over whether users are being treated equally under the new system. While Musk claims that his changes will treat everyone equally, critics argue that this approach may drive revenue and create more confusion among users.
In a separate move, Twitter's blue bird logo was replaced with doge, the meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin shot up 20% on Monday following its appearance at the top of the site.
Musk's decision to target The New York Times' account highlights how his platform is often guided by whims rather than clear policy decisions. As a result, many users are left wondering what exactly will happen next, and whether Musk's actions are truly in their best interests.
, this just keeps getting crazy on Twitter! I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole blue check thing... like, I get it, Musk wants to make more money, but does he have to target The New York Times like that? 
It's one account vs thousands of others who are already paying for verification. And now they're just adding this "verified because subscribed" label? 
Not sure what the point of that is... and don't even get me started on dogecoin 
, anyone else think Musk is playing a weird game? 
Anyway, I'm definitely keeping an eye on how this all plays out 
It's like he changes it every 5 minutes and then targets some random account like The New York Times 
Like, what even is the point of trying to "fix" something if you're just gonna mess with people's trust again? 
And now the blue check mark thingy looks like it's got a bunch of extra words on it 
like what's up with that?! Can't they just keep things simple for once? 
and what's w/ the meme? 
tryin to silence nytimes by takin out their account? low blow, dude 
and now their logo is replaced with doge lol what's next, a meme-ified Twitter? 
& btw did u see that doge logo?! 
I mean I know Elon loves Dogecoin but come on! 20% price increase?! that's crazy talk! 
. Can't help but wonder what Musk's next move will be... 
i dont get why musk decided to target just 1 account instead of going for the whole legacy blue check thing 
"this account is verified because its subscribed to twitter blue"... sounds like a total scam