In the future, users who have paid a monthly fee will receive the verification token.
On Thursday, the social media platform Twitter has started removing the old blue verification marks from the connection of the accounts of known users.
The verification marks associated with the accounts of known users have initially indicated that the users’ identities have been verified. The confirmation had been obtained by filling out the application.
However, the practice changed last November, when a billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced that verified Twitter accounts will become paid. In the reform called “Twitter Blue”, users who have paid a monthly fee will receive a verification token and some additional features for their accounts.
However, the reform aroused criticism, and paid verification tokens were not received with open arms in all circles. The problem was seen to be that the reform makes it even more difficult to distinguish real Twitter accounts from fake accounts. With the reform, virtually anyone can buy the certificate.
Verification marks disappeared from the accounts of celebrities
On Friday, one of the most followed public figures on Twitter was, for example, the former president of the United States Donald Trump’s and pop star Justin Bieber’s the verification marks were gone. Also about pop stars Beyoncé’s and Lady Gaga’s and a football player Cristiano Ronaldo the user accounts did not show a verified status entry.
Musk also ended up paying the monthly fees required for the certification of some public figures himself. Musk said On Twitter (you will switch to another service) paid author by Stephen Kinga basketball star LeBron James’s and actor by William Shatner monthly account payments. King and James had previously said they were not going to pay that fee.
The number of different verification marks has also increased, which means that a verified user can also be distinguished by a mark other than the blue one. The gray certification mark, which tells about a governmental or multifaceted organization, has appeared, for example, in the US government and the president Sauli Niinistön in connection with the accounts.
Gold marks, on the other hand, indicate that the account belongs to an official organization.