This just in: Elon musk has ‘Killed’ the new ‘official’ badges, a mere three hours after they were launched. Musk says that Twitter will ‘do lots of dumb things’ in the coming months, while also noting that the coveted Blue checkmark will be the ‘great leveler’. Of course, Twitter has already done some pretty dumb things during its pre-Musk era, but under his wing, they might just set all-time records, which would be something debatably impressive.

Gray, Blue, What’s Next? 

On the eve of the launch of Twitter’s $8 per month verification process, which will enable everybody to buy a prestigious Blue checkmark for their account, Twitter has recognized that there is actually a need for an official marker for certain accounts, as a means to combat potential fraud, something that the ‘Chief Twit’ adamantly protests against.

But rather than revise its hastily formulated $8 checkmark scheme, it’s, confusingly, come up with an alternative solution – adding another indicator for selected accounts that recognizes that this is an ‘official’ identity. As shown in an image posted by Twitter’s Esther Crawford, some accounts will get a new ‘Gray Tick’ that will appear underneath their username on their profile, denoting that this is an ‘official’ account.

So, it’s exactly like the Blue checkmark, but only for those that Twitter’s new management deems worthy of this ‘official’ recognition, which, thus far, will include ‘government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers, and some public figures’. In short – no journalists. Musk has made his perspective on journalists pretty clear – that he doesn’t see them any more credible than anyone else. He’ll now be able to revoke their verification status, in his own way.

One key weakness, however, is that the Gray tick will not be displayed on individual Tweets – so if a user wants to confirm that they are interacting with an actual, ‘official’ Twitter account of a brand/celebrity, they’ll need to tap through to their full profile to see it. Seems it would just be easier to just stick with the current system, as Blue ticks do appear on Tweets, while Twitter could simultaneously add this new checkmark as an indicator that a user has confined their ID, thereby facilitating the need to verify human users – yep, Musk also has a presumed aversion to artificial intelligence. So, why not take that approach instead – like what Facebook used to do with business accounts?

Because people just won’t pay for that.

The Wrap

It’s really less about verification and confirming real human users and more about making money. People want Blue checkmarks, and Musk knows that at least some users will pay for them, while actually verifying people’s documentation, through whatever means, is labor intensive, which could mean interesting costs, which is the exact opposite of his original aim. Do note that Twitter has confirmed that ID verification will not be part of this new $8 subscription package, which is pretty misleading for including the term ‘verification’ here, yeah?

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Sources 

http://bit.ly/3Umb9uR