High-profile accounts regain Twitter's blue verification badge
The source of the image is Getty Images.
Twitter has recently reinstated the blue tick badges of certain Twitter accounts that have over one million followers. Interestingly, these accounts did not have to pay a subscription fee for this reinstatement.
Celebrities like Beyoncé, Harry Kane, Richard Osman, and Victoria Beckham have had their verified status reinstated with a blue tick.
The Twitter account of BBC News has regained its gold badge, however, it was not purchased.
Prior to Elon Musk acquiring the platform, Twitter granted the blue tick as a symbol of confirmation at no cost.
At first, it was utilized as a means of verifying identity, created to prevent the creation of deceptive profiles and the distribution of incorrect information.
Currently, the symbol communicates that an individual's account has signed up for Twitter's premium service, known as Twitter Blue, which requires a verification procedure to be completed before payment can be processed. The subscription rates vary depending on the location, but they typically cost approximately $8 monthly.
Individuals who underwent the initial verification process and received a blue tick but chose not to pay the subscription fee have started to lose their ticks since 20th April.
James O'Brien is a well-known broadcaster with a massive following of 1.1 million people. Recently, he lost his blue verification tick, but has since regained it. James has clarified that he did not pay for this verification.
He further commented that certain profiles with less than 1 million followers seemed to have regained their blue checkmarks, which were bestowed upon them solely based on Elon Musk's decision-making.
On Friday, Eliot Higgins, the founder of the investigative group Bellingcat, told me that he received his blue checkmark and Bellingcat's validation for no cost.
According to Mr. Musk, he personally covered the expenses for the subscriptions of author Stephen King, actor William Shatner, and basketball player Lebron James after they spoke out against the plan.
As of now, certain notables such as performer Ryan Reynolds, who encompasses the role of possessing Wrexham football club, have yet to receive verification on their social media accounts despite having a fanbase exceeding 21 million.
News has just come in that the process of eliminating the outdated blue verification badges may have to be carried out manually, and this could take some time with the progress extending over the next few days.
The release of Twitter Blue has been problematic. It was postponed due to the emergence of fraudulent accounts pretending to be legitimate entities. Moreover, recently both subscribers and previously verified accounts have become indistinguishable.
The tweets from those who have subscribed will be more noticeable, and the individual posts they make can contain more content. Additionally, the quantity of advertisements they encounter will be reduced.
In the past, Elon Musk stated that the company's financial situation was critical when he assumed control, and that Twitter was losing $4 million daily.
Twitter hasn't disclosed the exact number of people who have subscribed yet, but according to Sensor Tower, a mobile app research company, TechCrunch estimated that about 386,000 individuals had signed up for the platform in March 2023.
This figure does not encompass memberships purchased on Twitter's webpage instead of through its software. Nevertheless, it constitutes only a insignificant portion of its approximately 300 million user community.
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