From April 1, 2023, Twitter will be phasing out its “legacy verified programme” and removing some “legacy verified checkmarks”. Users will now need to pay to “keep your blue checkmark on Twitter”.
Accounts to be affected by this move include some “legacy” accounts, which date from before Mr Musk bought the firm.
Users currently pay $7 (£5.70) a month for blue-tick verification, which also allows access to additional features. In this new update, Verified users will also have their tweets amplified above other accounts. Paid users/subscribers also have access to additional features including an edit button, among other perks.
Also, from 15 April only verified subscribers will have their posts recommended in the “For you” stream of recommended tweets, and be allowed to vote in polls. Voting in polls will also require verification which, according to Musk, would make it easier to identify Bots.
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Users affiliated with verified organization accounts also get the blue tick
Musk clarified from his account last week that individual Twitter users whose accounts were affiliated with a verified organization would automatically receive verifications when the new system goes into place but he has not elaborated further on how this system would work.
Previously, the blue tick was the mark of authenticity on high-profile accounts and public figures and was given without a subscription fee.
Twitter Blue had a messy initial launch in November, as people started impersonating big brands and celebrities (including Elon Musk himself) and paying for the blue tick badge in order to make them look authentic. This forced Twitter to pause the feature after less than a week before it was relaunched the following month.
According to Musk, the changes are part of a strategy to address “advanced AI bot swarms taking over”.
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