Musk Enrages Celebrities With Twitter’s Blue Checkmark Changes
In recent days, Twitter has faced a wave of anger from users as the platform’s traditional practice of awarding blue “verified” checkmarks to selected individuals was replaced with a new system accessible to all users who are willing to pay a subscription fee.
The new policy went into effect on April 20, in keeping with Musk’s fondness for “420” memes. As a result of the new rule, users who had previously been verified under the old system, primarily celebrities, journalists and public figures, lost their checkmarks.
Although those who lost their verified status could easily regain their checkmarks by selecting the $8 subscription option, which is now open to all users, many opted to react in anger over the loss of their previously exclusive status symbol.
Actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, “So by revoking my blue check mark because I wouldn’t pay some arbitrary fee, someone can just be me and say a bunch of bull****. Does that mean Twitter and Elon Musk are liable for defamation or identity theft or fraud?”
Bette Midler had this to say, “Elon, deciding that I’m not me, I’m a fake, & obliging ME, who has contributed mightily to your platform (at least until you “tweaked the algorithm & tanked my metrics”) to pay monthly because you don’t have enough money & you’re humiliated b/c everyone thinks you’re a pathetic douche, is the funniest thing you’ve ever done.”
“Today proves yet again that you can’t buy class but you can buy a blue check mark,” said journalist Dan Rather.
https://twitter.com/DanRather/status/1649224769588584448?s=20
Author John Pavlovitz tweeted, “Today I lost a blue check mark and saved both 8 bucks a month and my dignity. I win.”
Initially designed to safeguard notable individuals from impersonation, Twitter’s blue checkmark soon evolved into a reward distributed by woke company employees to favored users, with several accounts having less than ten thousand followers receiving verification.
Simultaneously, Twitter declined to grant verified status to distinguished conservative and anti-establishment accounts, such as James O’Keefe and Julian Assange.
Musk’s implementation of the paid verification system terminates the previous biased regime but introduces its own set of issues. For example, pranksters and impersonators can now pay for a blue checkmark, increasing their perceived authenticity.
Over the weekend, Musk appeared to acquiesce to at least some members of the previous blue checkmark group, granting verification to various celebrity accounts without much justification.