New episode in the saga of the certification of accounts for the social network X (formerly Twitter). Users with a large number of subscribers will now get a free subscription to the platform, as well as a “blue checkmark”, a normally paid label that certifies the account.
American entrepreneur Elon Musk, who bought the platform in October 2022, announced on March 28 in a message that “in the future, all X accounts with more than 2,500 authenticated subscribers will benefit from Premium features for free and accounts with more than 5,000 subscribers will benefit from Premium + features for free”.
This is a new about-face on the user certification system, without being a total step backwards: before the takeover of the social network by the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, the blue checkmark was free but reserved with notorious accounts. It made it possible to authenticate the accounts of political and media figures, institutions and journalists – without criterion of number of subscribers.
General confusion around certification
Elon Musk, considering this system unfair, made the blue checkmarks accessible to everyone, but paid via subscriptions, thus depriving thousands of accounts of this certification. At the end of the day on Wednesday April 3, some users noticed that their blue check mark had been restored. As report it Washington Post“popular Youtubers, content creators, analysts, artists, journalists, researchers” have once again obtained certification.
A message from X explained that they had received free subscriptions as an “influential member” of the network. The California-based company added that it “reserves the right to cancel the free subscription at its sole discretion.”
A year ago, when‘they had denounced the establishment of the payment system to obtain certification, several actors and influential figures, such as best-selling author Stephen King, had already been awarded certifications without having paid a subscription. British actor Ian McKellen was keen to explain that he was not paying for this blue check mark.
So rebelote a year later: actor Mark Hamill, playing Luke Skywalker in the saga Star Warsalso denied having paid to obtain his tick and asked his subscribers not to “judge” him.
In August 2023,
Since the end of 2023, X users have had the choice between three plans: Basic, Premium and Premium +, respectively at 3, 8 and 16 dollars per month. The cheapest option includes basic editing tools and two-factor authentication. Premium also includes access to tools for creators (which allow you to be paid), the famous blue check mark and access to Grok, X’s artificial intelligence chatbot. Premium + subscribers no longer see advertisements and their messages are more likely to be read.
A turnaround to restore advertising revenue?
Some users saw this “gift” as a cry for help from Elon Musk. “Translation: pay 8 dollars? Just kidding. Help me. But don’t talk too freely about me or my rotten Tower of Babel,” actor Jeffrey Wright mocked X, receiving an unsolicited tick . A reference to the fact that since the billionaire bought Twitter, the social network’s advertising activity, crucial to its survival, has collapsed. Because brands appreciate neither erratic governance nor the weakening of content moderation.
According to Karen North, professor of digital social media at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, interviewed by the Washington Post, “in a world where celebrities and public figures refuse to pay for the check mark, verification loses its value.” Thus the choice to automatically certify influential accounts could decide to pay “certain people who would like to be considered equivalent”.
According to the American newspaper, some X users have for their part hypothesized that this policy change “aims to counter a technique known as “blue blocking”, which consists of using browser extensions to block automatically verified X accounts.” On Tuesday, AFP reported, X appointed Kylie McRoberts, a veteran of the group, as head of security, in a bid to turn around advertising revenues.