Twitter will begin phasing out its legacy verification program, which means that users who have a verified account will either have to pay or lose their blue check on the platform.
Twitter said it will start removing legacy blue checkmarks from the platform from April 1, also known as April Fool’s Day. In the announcement, the official Twitter Verified account said individuals and organizations can only keep the verified status by subscribing to Twitter Blue or signing up for Verified Organizations.
Blue Features: Twitter says buying a blue checkmark gives users access to subscriber-only features such as 50% fewer ads on their timeline, prioritized ranking in conversations, posting longer videos, and the ability to craft long tweets (4,000 characters long), edit and undo tweets, and upload 1080p videos.
Before Elon Musk acquired the company, Twitter used checkmarks to verify individuals (celebrities, politicians, journalists, companies, and brands) as authentic and notable accounts through Twitter’s free verification process.
Soon after Elon Musk bought the social media platform in a $44 billion deal, the new Twitter CEO introduced paid Twitter Blue, a paid-for subscription that allows anyone to buy a blue tick for their account. Musk announced a revamp of the verification program and criticized the policy as a “lords & peasants system.” Later, he said the blue ticks were handed out in a “corrupt and nonsensical” way.
Twitter now gives blue check marks to Twitter Blue subscribers with a verified phone number. The program costs $8 a month or $84 annually on the web. The iOS and Android signups will cost $11 per month due to app store costs.
The Twitter accounts linked to a verified organization will be “automatically verified,” according to Musk. Twitter currently has three color-coded verification checkmarks: Gold check for companies, grey check for government, and blue for individuals.
Backlash over killing verified program
The initial rollout of Twitter’s paid-for verification feature was put on pause following a wave of parody accounts impersonating former presidents, celebrities, and organizations, leading to chaos. The feature was relaunched after increased protection.
Twitter is facing intense criticism after the latest move means all users, previous and new, will have to pay for Twitter Blue if they want to be verified.
Elon’s inability to make a single good change to this app needs to be studied
— D3NNI (@D3NNI_yt) March 23, 2023
Twitter users called the move meaningless. “Actual notable people won’t be taken seriously because folks will think they’re a troll account with Twitter blue. Some notable will not pay for the check and people will think that’s a fake account too. Brilliant work all around” said Kallao in response to the Twitter post.
“Just mind-boggling that Twitter doesn’t understand the entire point of verification” tweeted another user.
Just mind-boggling that Twitter doesn’t understand the entire point of verification.
— Justin A. Cohn (@SportsiCohn) March 23, 2023
Many users and company accounts also stated that they would lose verified accounts than pay US$1000 a month. “Twitter wants orgs to pay $1500/month for verification now. Looks like we’ll be losing our tick but we’ll still be here tweeting the good stuff so you’ll know it’s really us” wrote the think tank Australia Institute.
