Since tech billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter last October, he has instituted many changes, the latest being removing the legacy blue check marks from verified accounts.
Elon Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars, and with this acquisition, he has tried to make revenue from the company through various means to avoid running on losses.
The verification badge was introduced in 2009, and it started because a celebrity was impersonated on Twitter and sued the platform. So, the company began to verify notable people, celebrities, government officials, and journalists.
The feature used to verify a person’s identity has recently been removed from legacy accounts and will be reinstated only when these users subscribe to Twitter Blue. The only “spared” accounts are those of individuals such as LeBron James, for whom the CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk, personally pays the blue check subscription.
Although some celebrities have taken to their Twitter accounts to criticize the tech giant’s actions and say they will not subscribe, others, like Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, have paid for it and kept their verification intact.
Since the platform nullified the legacy verification symbol, fake accounts have been popping up to mislead users as they do not know what government, health, or celebrity account is real or fake so that they can prove the authenticity of the information shared.
Over the last decade, Twitter has served as a platform where people get first-hand information about the happenings around them. Before the dust settles and government accounts and news outlets begin to subscribe, imagine if there is an emergency or a natural disaster that people need to be informed about. How will they authenticate the information shared with them via Twitter?
Due to this checkmark removal, fraud is possible since any Twitter account can be verified for as little as $8 per month.
Another effect of this move is that users need the blue check mark for 2-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication is a security feature that helps users secure their accounts from unauthorized access.
Currently, on Twitter, you cannot tell who is who, and this causes many users to be in a state of confusion. Remember that as a tech company, Twitter is a company focused on making profits and not attracting losses, hence the blue check subscription and everything attached to it.
Does the removal of the legacy blue check mark a good move? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.
Join the conversation; follow us on Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at GoSpeedHub.
Image by Rokas Tenys
