Elon Musk’s Twitter Enters Chaotic New Multicolored Checkmark Phase

It’s taken a few weeks longer than planned, but now it looks like Elon Musk’s paid verification system is starting to roll out in earnest. You can sign up for Blue. This gives you blue ticks, the ability to edit your posts, and a few other perks, but most of it is still “fewer ads, you can post longer videos, your tweets are amplified than tweets from the unwashed, unchecked masses.

This change is controversial, mainly because it defeats the original purpose of blue checks and validations. These blue checks were handed out to users that Twitter deemed worthy of attention in some way or who took the risk of being impersonated (such as celebrities, brands, and (many right-wing) journalists). Twitter now vaguely describes these checkmarks as noteworthy and says they will be retired soon. That’s it.

To fix the problems it caused, Twitter also had to introduction Some extra steps to verify that a particular account is who they say they are. They include check marks in different colors, different profile picture shapes, and a small “belongs to” icon next to some check marks.

If Musk’s plan works, we’ll see more blue check marks in the future. We just don’t know who’s actually behind them.

If you have questions about all this, here are some answers.

Why are some check marks gold or gray?

No need to check your eyes. Some of the check marks have actually changed color. When Musk first tried to publish his thoughts on his Twitter Blue, it didn’t go well. This was largely due to the fact that there was no real way to verify the identity of accounts signing up to Twitter Blue, which he outsourced some of that work to his App Store. People would have to have an App Store account to get Twitter Blue, and they would have to pay for it, so they figured it would be enough of an authentication system and a deterrent to trolls.

It wasn’t. Twitter was quick to churn out things like asking NBA teams for trades (as a fake, but verified LeBron James account did), giving away free diabetes medicine, and more. It was flooded with tweets from verified accounts that looked like. (like the fake but verified Eli Lilly account did) or simply let the mascots separate from their loyal customers (like the fake but verified Nintendo account did). The minimal crew of Twitter employees left after Mr. Musk’s drastic layoffs couldn’t cope with the onslaught of fakes, with some tweets going up for hours, with ads robbing him of Twitter’s revenue. The brands that make up the bulk of the market didn’t like it.

To prevent that from happening again, Twitter has now changed the blue checkmark the company had to a gold checkmark. Go to your account’s profile and click the gold check, a box will pop up that says ‘Your account has been verified because it’s an official Twitter business’. So if you see an account with a blue checkmark tweeting about getting free insulin, it’s the real Eli Lilly account because the account has a gold checkmark so it’s real Eli. You can be sure you know it’s not a Lilly account. And Eli Lilly stock will never go down again. right?

Government accounts will also have a gray check mark with the new look.That goes for some individuals as well as government agencies, but not all government officials appear to qualify: President Biden officials @POTUS The account receives gray checks, but his @Joe Biden It has a label underneath that says “U.S. Government Officials”, but it’s still blue. Being a member of Congress doesn’t seem to grant a gray check mark or label, but that could change as Twitter continues to try to figure out what they’re doing here.

What happens to blue check marks that never turn gold or gray?

The “Legacy” blue checkmark is described as “may or may not be worth noting”.Musk too To tell Legacy accounts have to pay or lose their checkmarks “within a few months”.

So, for months, some of the blue checks you see belong to people who have paid, and some to people who haven’t paid but are worthy of your attention. Or inconspicuous.

Wait, didn’t this happen a month ago?

Musk had grand plans to roll out Twitter Blue as early as November 7th, but ended up having to delay it by a few days. This has made Twitter the most fun I’ve had in a while, unless it’s an account impersonating or having an inventory of impersonating brands. Then Mr. Musk had to put his beloved Twitter Blue back on. After several delays, we finally got back.

How is Twitter ensuring there is no confusion this time around?

The gold and gray check marks should help people know which accounts are corporate or governmental and which are not. Let’s see how well this works. In the coming days, if not weeks or months, people will still associate the blue checkmark with the official one and the gold and gray checkmarks with nothing.

Fortunately, however, there are some additional safeguards in place. According to Musk, someone manually verifies each account before ticking it off. Renaming temporarily removes the check until you can check it again. This is to prevent people from getting the check and quickly changing their name to some other drug company that sells insulin or Sonic the Hedgehog mooning us.

Why am I seeing a rectangle?

which one? Have some account profile pictures become squares instead of circles, or is it a small little square icon next to a checkmark for some accounts? , Twitter makes their profile pictures square. Also, to indicate that an account is affiliated with another account, Twitter displays a small version of that account’s profile picture next to the other account’s check mark. It sure is crowded there! I hope you remember all these visual cues.

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Why are the prices different on the website and in the App Store?

Musk initially said Twitter Blue would cost $20 per month. Renowned author Stephen King then said this was too expensive, so Musk changed it to $8 (at the time, upgrades were only available through the App Store, with developers ending at .99). We had to use the price, so technically it was $7.99). Before Musk even tried to roll out his Twitter Blue again, I noticed that Apple took a percentage of the subscription fee away from the money that would normally have been paid to him. This enraged Musk, who lashed out on Twitter for two days, complained About App Store fees claimed It turns out (incorrectly) that Apple threatened to remove Twitter entirely from the App Store. The mask then Apple headquarters (at CEO Tim Cook’s invitation, he said) and feeling better about things.

He also increased the price of Twitter Blue subscriptions purchased from the App Store to $11. If that seems too expensive, you can also purchase a Twitter Blue subscription through his website on Twitter. Price is $8, Stephen-King adjusted, plus tax where applicable.

I have an android phone. Where is Twitter Blue? 🙁

You can’t yet subscribe to Twitter Blue through the Android app, but you can still subscribe through the website. Subscription functionality for Android apps is likely coming soon. The same goes for Twitter Blue for countries that are not currently supported. Twitter Blue’s rollout has been pretty chaotic so far, so who knows.

why am i paying for this?

Let’s see how many people are willing to pay. Musk clearly thinks he should be a good chunk of Twitter’s revenue when it’s all done. It may have to be done now, as Musk has horrified many of his Twitter advertisers with his antics. But he still has a long way to go. His Twitter revenue for 2021 is $5.1 billion, which equates to about 53,125,000 of his Twitter Blue subscribers.

Update, December 19, 5:50 PM ET: This post, originally published on December 12th, has been updated with additional information about the new types of verification badges and profile picture changes.