Well, that idea didn't last long.
In addition to rolling out the new Twitter Blue, Wednesday was also a day that Twitter rolled out a new "Official" gray checkmark to accounts the company had deemed verified on the social media platform. The move seemed to be a way to differentiate the blue checkmark, which people could simply pay for, from accounts that were truly verified to be the person or business it said it was for.
The move, argued by many, only brought even more confusion to the platform. Chief Twit Elon Musk seems to have agreed. Marques Brownlee originally took to Twitter to share that he was seeing both the blue and gray checkmark on his account at first, but then saw the new "Official" badge disappear.
Musk replied to MKBHD's tweet saying simply "I just killed it."
I just killed itNovember 9, 2022
It's all blue checkmark here on out
With the quick death of the "Official" checkmark, we're back to everyone being verified with a blue checkmark. However, with the launch of the new Twitter Blue subscription product, anyone who pays for the service will now get a blue checkmark.
This has caused a wave of impersonation accounts to pop up on the social media platform. Musk says that the blue checkmark will, over time, inherently ensure authenticity through a few things. In a Twitter Spaces where he answered questions from users and advertisers, Musk said that, between verifying a phone, credit card, and requiring the user to pay $8 per month, it will be able to rid Twitter of impersonators and bad actors quickly.
That remains to be seen. Right now, the chance for impersonators passing off as notable figures or companies for $8 is high. We'll see if Twitter is able to respond and not only shut these accounts down quickly but prevent them from simply creating another account over and over again. That's the Twitter we're used to right now.
