The recent move made by Elon Musk marks his first major revision of the social media platform. The new Twitter boss, Elon Musk, has worked to overhaul the platform’s verification system just ahead of the US mid-term elections. The change came a week after Musk took over Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
Before agreeing on $8, Musk had proposed a $20 price mark for Twitter's Blue Tick verification badges. Musk, who referred to the badge as "the great leveler," promised to make it accessible to all the app users. He has voiced his concern that only high-profile users who run the risk of being impersonated on social media, such as public figures, celebrities, and journalists, are eligible for the verification badge.
According to the company, the subscription system will soon go live in countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for IOS users. To provide Twitter Blue Tick feature to users, the Twitter app for iOS has been revamped and it is now charging $7.99 per month to get a verified badge. The most recent update to the app on the Apple Store states that paying for Blue Checkmark will verify you on the system "exactly like the celebrities, and politicians you already follow."
Before agreeing on $8, Musk had proposed a $20 price mark for Twitter's Blue Tick verification badges. Musk, who referred to the badge as "the great leveler," promised to make it accessible to all the app users. He has voiced his concern that only high-profile users who run the risk of being impersonated on social media, such as public figures, celebrities, and journalists, are eligible for the verification badge.
Musk claimed that the goal is to monetize the social media service, reduce its dependence on advertisements, and generate more revenue. In 2021, Twitter earned $5 billion in income with 238 million daily active users.
The current lords and peasants process for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month" - Musk tweeted
Furthermore, the billionaire entrepreneur has cut half the staff at Twitter and vowed to start charging users for blue tick. Not only that, according to the IOS notification, other benefits of the update also include lesser ads, the ability to post longer videos on Twitter, and priority ranking for quality content.
Misuse of the update
As the recent event took place, The Washington Post claimed that users started playing havoc with the use of the new option. Fake accounts were made where some users disguised as celebrities, politicians, such as President Biden, and other noteworthy individuals.Some fake accounts have been noticed announcing bogus news while posting as brands. Twitter recently stopped allowing new signups on Thursday evening. Such action has been implemented temporarily to prevent impersonation crimes. But all in vain! Everything was loused up already as some fake accounts were already made live on Friday.
On Wednesday, a phony Twitter account posing as basketball player LeBron James claimed that the player was looking for a trade. "I miss murdering Iraqis", tweeted another bogus account with a blue checkmark impersonating former president George W. Bush. The impersonation accounts for James, George Bush, and Eli Lilly were shut down, but as of Friday morning, several fake accounts with blue checkmarks of well-known people were still active.
After two weeks of havoc, under the new management, Elon Musk has decided to halt its latest introduced feature. Musk, who already holds the titles of CEO of firms like Tesla and SpaceX, worked swiftly to enact changes. A few hours after Twitter started using grey as "official" checkmark, Musk tweeted that he "just killed it" because he wanted blue checks to "be the great leveler."
On Wednesday, a phony Twitter account posing as basketball player LeBron James claimed that the player was looking for a trade. "I miss murdering Iraqis", tweeted another bogus account with a blue checkmark impersonating former president George W. Bush. The impersonation accounts for James, George Bush, and Eli Lilly were shut down, but as of Friday morning, several fake accounts with blue checkmarks of well-known people were still active.
After two weeks of havoc, under the new management, Elon Musk has decided to halt its latest introduced feature. Musk, who already holds the titles of CEO of firms like Tesla and SpaceX, worked swiftly to enact changes. A few hours after Twitter started using grey as "official" checkmark, Musk tweeted that he "just killed it" because he wanted blue checks to "be the great leveler."