It’s almost impossible to fathom. How can business magnate Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla and SpaceX) take over a company that was so popular, and then come under so much scrutiny and criticism for trying to stop it losing what he said was “over $4 million a day”. The results have been haphazard to say the least, as several accounts had their Blue Ticks reinstated in a seemingly gratis fashion at the end of this month.
It all spun out of Musk’s idea initial idea was to eradicate Twitter’s verified Blue Tick service. The point of this was to ensure that an account from a celebrity, government organisation, government officials, agencies, companies, brands, news organizations, journalists, entertainment industry figures, sports-related accounts, and activists or influential individuals was genuine.
To qualify for it, accounts must meet specific criteria, such as having a profile picture, a confirmed email address or phone number, and adhering to Twitter’s rules and policies.
When Musk took over, he gave the whole process a fiscal makeover, implementing a new Twitter Blue service. For $8 a month, subscribers get a Blue Tick as well as “additional early access to new features.”
Tick reversal
In a recent move, criticism started to mount as news broke that celebrities such as actor William Shatner and author Stephen King, as well as dead ones such as actor Chadwick Boseman and chef. Anthony Bourdain were given their ticks back.
This indicated they were “paid” users of the platform but some decried the arbitrary nature of the blue tick’s return, especially the numerous Twitter users who had got behind the hashtag #BlocktheBlue.
Rumours that the blue ticks of basketball star LeBron James and Stephen King had been paid for by Musk also heaped more criticism on the CEO.
Musk wanted to reach the benchmark of one million subscribers to the new Twitter Blue service, something that was reached with the rshed reintroduction of ticks this month.
Data shows that only 500 of the former 400,000 former Blue Tick individuals had signed up for the new service. At the same time, an equal amount of user cancelled their subscriptions to the service.
In his attempt to turn a profit and establish trust in the platform, it appears that he is almost eroding it public trust in the platform instead.
History of the Twitter Blue tick explained
Twitter’s blue tick, also known as the verification badge, is a small blue checkmark icon that appears next to the account name of certain users on the platform. It signifies that Twitter has confirmed the authenticity of the account, indicating that it belongs to a public figure, celebrity, notable personality, or organization of public interest. The primary purpose of the blue tick is to help users distinguish genuine accounts from potential impersonators and ensure that the information shared by these verified accounts is more trustworthy. The verification process involves meeting specific criteria set by Twitter, such as having a profile picture, a confirmed email address or phone number, and adhering to the platform’s rules and policies.
