Twitter's Plan to Phase Out Legacy Verified Checkmarks - Is it Just Another Elon Musk Troll?

Russell Kidson
Mar 24, 2023
Updated • Mar 24, 2023
Apps, Twitter
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Twitter claims ‘legacy’ blue checkmarks will start to disappear on April Fools’ Day


Twitter has revealed its plan to gradually phase out its legacy verified program and eliminate "legacy verified checkmarks" starting April 1st. Users are being advised to subscribe to Twitter Blue if they wish to retain their blue checkmark.

Twitter claims ‘legacy’ blue checkmarks will start to disappear on April Fools’ Day

There are several factors to consider in this announcement. Firstly, the revelation may not come as a shock to some as CEO Elon Musk has been pledging to eliminate "legacy" blue check marks, i.e., verification badges given under Twitter's prior policies since November. Musk has repeated that these badges would be phased out "in the coming months" on several occasions. According to Musk, these badges were distributed in a "corrupt and nonsensical" fashion, despite their value in enabling users to verify the authenticity of the celebrities they engage with.

Nonetheless, it is also worth noting that April 1st coincides with April Fools' Day, a holiday that many regard negatively. Furthermore, a significant aspect of Elon Musk's personality is being a troll, which is hard to overlook. As a result, it is conceivable that this announcement, which emanated from the Twitter Verified account and not Musk's account, is merely an effort to intimidate those with legacy checkmarks. It has become a widespread meme that the press is overrepresented in the pool of legacy verified users. However, these days, Musk is openly critical of the media.

Alternatively, it is feasible that Twitter genuinely intends to carry out this plan, and the date was picked as a means of trolling, similar to how Musk often incorporates 69 and 420 into almost everything he does. Moreover, Twitter has recently placed a large banner advertising the change at the top of one verified Verge reporter's timeline, suggesting that the plan may indeed come to fruition.

Twitter claims ‘legacy’ blue checkmarks will start to disappear on April Fools’ Day

Nevertheless, even if Twitter is genuine about the April 1st date, Musk's Twitter account has made numerous unfulfilled promises regarding the future of the service. For instance, in February, Musk declared a revenue sharing initiative, but apart from his tweets, no additional information has been disclosed. Several Twitter Blue subscribers have confirmed to The Verge that they have not received any communication about the program either. Furthermore, Musk pledged to open-source "all code used to recommend tweets" by March 31st, after failing to meet his initial deadline for doing so.

It is worth noting that Musk did fulfill his commitment to replace Twitter's press email response to inquiries with a poop emoji. When fellow journalists submitted a request for comment for this article, the press email did indeed respond with the emoji.

This updated timeline for the elimination of legacy checkmarks coincides with Twitter's announcement that it has launched Twitter Blue subscriptions worldwide. Despite this, several promised features are still absent. If you represent a brand or government entity that necessitates non-Blue verification, Twitter offers an application process for obtaining a grey checkmark for government officials and entities and a gold checkmark for businesses, which, in the future, may come at a high cost.

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Comments

  1. Some Dude said on March 25, 2023 at 2:39 am
    Reply

    Everything that Musk does is a troll.

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