Elon Musk announced Twitter’s next action step for old check-marked verified users beginning April 1st. He stated that the free verified badge on former verified accounts would no longer be available unless paid for.
Former management introduced the badge in 2009 to reduce impersonation of celebrities, leaders, and government agencies flooding the platform with fake information to mislead and defraud users. While people think Elon’s plan will have many mishaps, others will likely embrace the new development in no time. Some even believe that he does not understand why the badge was initially introduced.
With the update released by Elon Musk, only subscribers will have their accounts tagged; this implies that brands, businesses, influencers and celebrities will lose their tags if they fail to subscribe. The blue badge also classifies users to enjoy premium features such as tweet visibility, the capability to share longer videos, lesser ads, more search views and mentions.
In the US, Twitter premium package costs $8 on web, and $11 on android and iOS. The Business-Focused Twitter Verified organizations plan was later implemented on the platform, with a gold badge replacing the blue tag for business accounts and the grey checkmark for government-owned accounts. A subscription plan of $1000/month for gold and tax of $50 per month for each account affiliated with the business.
Elon Musk also downplayed the legacy verification process, stating that the verification process is “corrupt and non-sensical.” Adding that any individual could affiliate with a verified company to enjoy automatic verification. The bubbling question is, could that be the primary reason for removing the old blue checkmark?
On the contrary, Elon tweeted, “Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn.” It is most likely that social media is stressing financially, which reflects in the recent downsizing of staff across tech companies.
Elon Musk is seeking to make the platform the best it can be. Would the multibillionaire CEO hasten the plan for payments using cryptocurrency on the microblogging platform?
What do you think of his leadership?
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