Elon Musk’s plan to sell verified “blue check” marks for $8 per month on Twitter is a complete mess. For years, Twitter had a program that verified notable figures from entertainers to politicians. These users would have a “blue check” next to their names. This program, however, was flawed in many ways. Early versions of the “blue check” were handed out sort of arbitrarily. Some of these “verified” accounts wound up on random marketplaces for sale that were easy to discover on Google. Then there was the practice of a genuine, notable figure being denied verification (which is a process that includes sending documents like a photo ID) but later being approved after sending a Twitter employee upwards of $15,000 directly.
The grand solution to the problem of “blue check corruption” was to simply sell the blue checks for an $8 per month subscription. The problem with this is that the actual verification process was eliminated. As a result, anyone who has $8 in their digital pocket could simply purchase a blue check. This empowered serious trolls who made accounts that looked like actual notable figures and companies. Widespread confusion on the platform ensued. Ultimately, the ability to purchase “Twitter Blue” was removed from the platform after just a few days of being active.
SOURCES:
Elon Musk’s paid Twitter verification paused after fake accounts spread – The Washington Post
Elon Musk scrambles to reassure advertisers amid ‘blue check’ verification chaos | Twitter | The Guardian
Elon Musk Concedes Twitter’s Move To Paid Blue-Check Verification May Be A “Dumb Decision”, Intends To Get “80% Of Humanity” On Platform – Deadline
