Twitter will say goodbye to its ‘legacy’ blue ticks today following Elon Musk‘s controversial decision to switch up the platform’s verification system.
Numerous checkmarks are expected to disappear from Twitter accounts for users who are reluctant to pay £11 a month for the traditional blue badge.
‘Legacy’ blue ticks were initially given to verified accounts belonging to people of public interest including celebrities, politicians and journalists.
But following Musk’s takeover, only those subscribed to Twitter Blue can keep a blue tick, while businesses must now pay for a gold tick.
This decision came as part of Musk’s efforts to rid of the so-called ‘lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark’.
Twitter users will lose their ‘legacy’ blue ticks today following Elon Musk’s takeover
April 1 was the initial date to kickstart the culling of ticks but many remained after this date
By changing the system, Musk hopes that Twitter will become a ‘digital town square‘ through restoration of free speech and trust.
April 1 was the initial date to kickstart the culling of ‘legacy’ ticks, but many remained after this date giving rise to confusion.
Ten days later, Musk then announced that the ‘final date’ for removing these ticks would be April 20.
It is believed the date is a sly reference to cannabis, with the number 420 the time of day that it is traditionally smoked.
The billionaire was famously filmed smoking the drug during a live podcast in 2018, alongside comedian Joe Rogan.
Musk tweeted: ‘Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20.’
Following Musk’s post, users were quick to express their disappointment about the decision.
One user said: ‘I’m not worried about losing my verified checkmark. I’m worried about everyone else losing theirs. The value of the checkmark does not lie with the holder but with the people trying to determine whether to trust the source.’
Another added: ‘The whole policy doesn’t make sense. It’s like removing trophies from people who earned them (vetted) and letting everyone buy their trophy. The trophy means nothing now.’
On the flipside, best-selling author Stephen King was thrilled by the announcement, tweeting: ‘Big whoop.’
One person jokingly replied: ‘But Mr. King… how will I ever know it’s really you?’
Gold business ticks and government grey ticks are two other changes to the verification system that have been made during the past year.
While governments will not have to pay for their new grey ticks, companies must pay £11,400 per year if they want to keep this official mark.
Blue badges are now only available to those who pay an £11 monthly fee on Twitter
Twitter was flooded with comments following Elon Musk’s blue tick announcement
Another £50 monthly charge is also added on top if the business has any affiliated accounts.
These fees are still ‘subject to change’ as the platform aims to ‘improve’ its services and change features ‘from time to time’.
However, scrapping unpaid-for ticks has given rise to numerous impersonation accounts mimicking celebrities and other individuals.
One user fooled others into thinking former US President Donald Trump tweeted: ‘This is why Elon Musk’s plan doesn’t work.’
Another account impersonated former President George W Bush – who appeared to post a distasteful tweet about Iraq – and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
However, following his takeover Musk did anticipate a lot of ‘dumb things’ on the site.
In November, he tweeted: ‘Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.’
