Elon Musk vs Public Figures: Here’s Why Your Favorite Celebrities Are Not Verified On Twitter Anymore

post by: Dwomoh Darlingberg for thedistin.com.
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What do Twitter’s check marks actually mean? The platform recently removed legacy verified checkmarks amidst cascading waves of controversy.

As of time of this article, a number of famous individuals (including footballers, actors, musicians, influencers, and public figures) are not verified on the bird app owned by Elon Musk.

Now, it is difficult to differentiate between the original accounts of the celebrities you were following and their parody accounts because of the legacy check marks being removed from their pages.

It’s simply one of many moves that the Twitter CEO has made that has received swaths of backlash, and these two recent debacles reportedly lost him $13 billion. As both Twitter’s and Elon Musk’s public image continue to deteriorate, the age of the check mark has shifted.

To be clear, check marks haven’t necessarily been removed. However, users will have to pay money for one of Twitter’s subscription plans in order to have the check mark appear on their profiles. For all intents and purposes, these paid subscriptions to Twitter are a desperate cost-saving measurement that Elon Musk is making as both he and the company continue to lose money. The only difference is that now, everyone has to pay up for the check mark. Here’s what you should know about the debacle.

Twitter Blue plan
Users can sign up for Twitter Blue to receive a check mark
SOURCE: TWITTER

What is the meaning behind the Twitter check mark? New policies have shifted its status.

Many social media platforms, including Twitter, have long implemented check marks as a sign of verification for celebrities and public figures. Originally, Twitter users had blue check marks that verified that a person was who their bio and username claim them to be. It’s relatively easy for someone to build their Twitter profile to claim that they’re someone famous in order to mislead people with hoaxes and false statements. The check mark was originally meant as a safety measure against that.

If a check mark appeared on a profile, it meant that you were who you said you were, which is wildly important on the internet where false identities pop up so very often. As of April 2023, however, it means something very different for everyone.

Starting on April 21, several celebrities confirmed that they’ve been losing their legacy verified check marks, which were check marks that were active before Elon Musk implemented paid subscriptions like Twitter Blue.

In order for one to get the blue check mark again, they’ll have to pay the $8 monthly plan for Twitter Blue for it to appear. The problem now, though, is that anyone can make up an account and pay the subscription fee for the blue check mark and masquerade as someone else. As of now, all the blue check mark means for Twitter users is that you spent $8.

Yellow checkmark on Twitter
SOURCE: TWITTER

There’s a difference between blue, gold, and grey check marks on Twitter.

Despite the kerfuffle behind the removal of blue check marks, there are still other colors to worry about as well. Twitter still has gold/yellow and grey check marks active. Gold check marks are typically meant for verification for large companies and businesses, but these are also on a paid subscription and cost $1000 a month.

Grey check marks signify verification for official organizations like the White House.

If all this confusion around colors and checks sounds confusing, it’s because it is. But leave to Elon Musk’s Twitter to make an experience as user-unfriendly as possible.