Elon Musk has reversed one of his most infamous decisions since acquiring the social network I started adding checkmarks.
Entrepreneur and former “Chief Twit” tweeted last week The service grants free “Premium” status to users with a “verified subscriber following” of more than 2,500 people, and “Premium+” to accounts with more than 5,000 people. That policy is now being implemented.
There are many benefits to a two-tier paid service. On the cheaper ones, users see fewer ads and are placed more prominently within the site’s algorithmic curation. The higher end also gets you access to X’s “anti-wake” AI chatbot Grok, zero ads, and even better reply prioritization.
However, both are best known for their public perk: a blue checkmark next to a user’s profile. The checkmark, still known on the site as “authentication,” was once reserved for high-profile users who verified their identity, but under the mask, they signed up for a paid tier of the service then known as Twitter Blue. Now anyone can use it.
After newsletter promotion
In an effort to increase Blue’s subscriptions, Musk’s company started removing the “legacy” checkmark around this time last year. The hope was that the site’s most famous and avid users would sign up for paid services instead, increasing the revenue and credibility of premium accounts. Instead, within many communities, the move worsened the social status of those certified. In the absence of highly rated users with visible checkmarks, the sign became scarlet or rather cyan text indicating that the user wanted to buy respect.
The problem got so bad that by August a new, rebranded X was issued. Introduced the ability to completely hide checkmarks, an effort to encourage users to subscribe to other features. But now the opposite approach is being taken. As the “free” tick rolls out, users who have never paid for it before are expressing disappointment with its new status.
“Damn. I was forced to get a blue check.” Posted by journalist Marcy Wheeler. Wired writer Lauren Good said:: “My blue check is back. I want to make it clear that I am not paying El*n Mi*sk for this thank you.”
It is unclear how many blue checks were approved and how many were unnecessary. As has been the social network’s policy since Musk took office, Mr. X did not respond to requests for comment.
