Twitter backs down and returns the blue mark to some personalities and companies

2023-04-23 20:10:40

Although the social network has not made any announcement in this regard, this Sunday many accounts with a large following -apparently those with more than a million followers– were once again sporting the blue badge, which until recently distinguished notable users whose identity had been verified.

When clicking on the brand, the message that appears is the same as in the case of users who have chosen to pay the 8 dollars a month that the service costs and indicates that the account in question is subscribed to Twitter Blue and has provided a phone number.

Several personalities from different fields have published messages in this regard, making it clear that They had not paid for Twitter Blue or given their phone and that, after losing the blue mark, it had reappeared without further explanation. “Despite the implication when clicking on the blue badge that has mysteriously reappeared next to my name, I am not paying for the ‘honor’,” the actor tweeted. Ian McKellen.

“My blue mark has reappeared. I have nothing to do with it and I am definitely not paying,” said the Nobel Prize winner in Economics Paul Krugmanto which Musk himself responded with a photomontage of a crying little boy and wearing a verified badge.

This Sunday, the blue badge seemed to have returned to many users with more than a million followers who had lost it, including inactive accounts of several famous deceasedlike the basketball player Kobe Bryant or the chef and presenter Anthony Bourdain.

Media accounts such as the chain Fox News or the agencies Reuters, AP, AFP or EFE, who had run out of the blue badge, had it again this Sunday.

While, CNN, MSNBC o The New York Times – some of the largest outlets often labeled as progressive in the United States and which have been the target of criticism from Musk – sported the gold mark that identifies companies that have paid for their verification on Twitter, a service that costs $1,000 monthlydespite the fact that they had anticipated that they were not going to do it.

Los sudden changes applied by the social network come after a tiny percentage of users who had previously been verified opted to subscribe to Twitter Blue to keep the blue mark. This quickly left the badge a mere identifier of who pays for Twitter and led many users to promote the blocking of accounts with the brand, in many cases admirers of Musk who defended his measures tooth and nail.

The owner of the social network, who often uses his account to joke, already said on Thursday that he had begun to personally pay subscriptions to Twitter Blue to three celebrities: the actor William Shatnerthe basketball player LeBron James and the author Stephen King.

Both James and King had previously announced that they would not pay the subscription service of Twitter, which in addition to the blue mark offers other advantages such as being able to edit your tweets, publish content from up to 10,000 characters and get the platform’s algorithm to push your messages.