On Friday morning, thousands of Twitter users discovered that their Blue Tick, a checkmark that once gave their account some kind of validity, was missing. The removal of Blue Tick from all accounts that do not pay for the service was previously announced by CEO Elon Musk to take place on April 20.
In other words, the business has determined that the Blue Tick is no longer a symbol to signify account legitimacy. Instead, it is a badge that is awarded to those who are prepared to pay Twitter a monthly charge. Few people are now making payments.
Who has lost Twitter Blue Tick?
The Blue Tick is essentially disappearing from the accounts of all Twitter users who were verified under the previous system and did not sign up for Twitter Blue before April 20. On April 1st, Twitter started removing the “verified” badges from non-subscribers and from the accounts of a few people. New York Times was one among the well-known accounts that had previously lost their Blue Tick, allegedly on Elon Musk’s direct orders. However, the majority of users, including journalists, public personalities, sports, government officials, and movie stars, have now lost their verification badges.
The number of Twitter accounts that still display the Blue Tick is quite small. The most famous of these accounts are those that LeBron James and author Stephen King employ. King and James had both previously declared that they would never purchase Blue Tick. So what is happening? Elon Musk has acknowledged that he is funding Blue Tick on these two accounts on Twitter. Although it is unclear why he is acting in this way, some have theorized that it is a kind of trolling because the Twitter Boss wants users to believe that James and King are paying for Twitter Blue despite their claim that they would never pay.
Why Twitter removed blue ticks?
Now the issue is, why? There are a number of factors, although it is unclear which is the main factor and which is merely a perk for Elon Musk.
Before he acquired Twitter, Musk criticized the Blue Tick system. He said that the previous Twitter administration had an elitist bias when verifying accounts. Additionally, he claimed that the Blue Tick system has divided Twitter users into two groups. So, as soon as Musk gained control of Twitter, he began marketing the Blue Tick. He said that anyone could now own the Blue Tick by shelling out just $8 every month.
Who will get a Twitter blue tick?
The previous method of Twitter verification, according to Musk, was “corrupt and nonsensical.” The new method is thus based on the payment of a monthly charge. On December 13, 2022, Musk previously reintroduced Twitter Blue and demanded that everyone pay $8 per month and around Rs 900 in India to save their verification credentials.
A Blue Tick was formerly obtained through a specific application procedure that included a verification mechanism. By limiting access to the verification badge to notable individuals or those who are well-known public personalities, it became more of a status symbol. Musk, however, believed that the procedure was a little arbitrary, so he decided to end the exclusivity and make Blue Tick open to anybody who can afford it.
READ ALSO: Snap already gains 3 million paid subscribers on Snapchat+
