Twitter’s New Verification System

In a recent development, after a brief period of its introduction, the new system of the verification system, which allowed subscribers of Twitter Blue to be able to purchase the verification check marks has been changed to limit only accounts created before November 9 to purchase the verification badge. This comes at the tail end of issues with impersonation and false information that saw a rise in the first few days of its introduction.

The current state of Twitter has definitely been a tumultuous ride-from Elon Musk’s public announcement of his interest to buy the company, to his almost backing down, right down to his eventual acquisition. Interspersed within this ordeal, a wind of supposed changes Elon had apparently wanted to make within the site and the company at large have been making rounds, both from musk himself and assumptions by the public.

One thing Musk has been empirical about, however, has been his supposed desire to enforce “free speech”( that he thinks has been non-existent on the site due to the site’s stringent rules on hate speech or offensive conduct in general) and has sort generally to make a host of changes when he finally acquired it. Therefore it’s no surprise that there have been changes in the past few weeks since his taking over.

As expected, however, a number of these new changes have raised more than a few eyebrows, the first being the mass laying off of Twitter workers in Twitter offices worldwide including the CEO of the main Twitter headquarters.
Another change relates to the issue of the acquisition of the much coveted blue twitter verification checkmark. The verification system was instituted as a way to award public figures the checkmark in order to avoid impersonation and combat the spread of misinformation.

In a move orchestrated by Musk himself, however, Twitter announced that non-public figure users could now obtain the checkmark if they subscribed to Twitter Blue where they could purchase the checkmark for a subscription fee of $7.99 per month. (Subsequently, to reduce the risk of impersonation, it was initially decided that the actual accounts of brands on the site would have “official” indicated underneath their names as a form of authentication (this update was removed the moment it took effect)).

Immediately after its insertion, however, a slew of parody accounts mimicking brands was mounted (at a risk of facing permanent suspension as Elon has empirically stated that such accounts with no clear indication that they are parody accounts i.e. “parody” written alongside their profile names).

After one such case that led to detrimental effects on the insulin-producing company, Eli Lilly and Company, and itself, the new verification system, has undergone changes to allow only accounts created before Nov 9 to be able to obtain the verification badge.

Incidentally, the “official” tag has been re-introduced to indicate authentic brand accounts. For more Tech news, click here.