Elon Musk's plan for a Twitter purge of blue check marks has taken an unexpected turn, with the billionaire CEO singling out one high-profile account from a major publication he dislikes. Instead of carrying out his threat, Twitter appears to have targeted the New York Times' main account, which had previously refused to pay for verification.
As part of its new verification system, Twitter now requires users who want to stay verified to join the platform's Twitter Blue subscription service and pay $8 per month. However, most legacy blue check holders found that their verification marks had not disappeared but were instead appended with a new label reading: "This account is verified because it's subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account." This change has raised concerns about the clarity of the verification process, as users are now unclear whether verified accounts are notable individuals or simply users who have paid to join Twitter Blue.
The New York Times' main account lost its blue check over the weekend after Elon Musk took to Twitter to respond to a meme posted by an actor who had engaged with him. Musk's tweet, "Oh ok, we'll take it off then," was followed by a series of attacks on the Times and journalists in general.
The move is part of a larger campaign by Musk to eliminate "legacy" blue checks from users verified under Twitter's old system. He has been threatening this change since shortly after buying Twitter last fall and has presented it as a way of treating everyone equally. However, critics argue that the new system could make it easier for people to scam or impersonate high-profile users.
The controversy highlights Musk's tendency to guide decisions about the platform by whim rather than policy. Twitter's blue bird logo at the top of the site was also replaced with doge, a meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin shot up 20% on Monday following this move.
As experts warn that reserving verification for paid users may not reduce the number of bots on the site, Musk's strategy is likely to continue to spark controversy and confusion among Twitter users.
As part of its new verification system, Twitter now requires users who want to stay verified to join the platform's Twitter Blue subscription service and pay $8 per month. However, most legacy blue check holders found that their verification marks had not disappeared but were instead appended with a new label reading: "This account is verified because it's subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account." This change has raised concerns about the clarity of the verification process, as users are now unclear whether verified accounts are notable individuals or simply users who have paid to join Twitter Blue.
The New York Times' main account lost its blue check over the weekend after Elon Musk took to Twitter to respond to a meme posted by an actor who had engaged with him. Musk's tweet, "Oh ok, we'll take it off then," was followed by a series of attacks on the Times and journalists in general.
The move is part of a larger campaign by Musk to eliminate "legacy" blue checks from users verified under Twitter's old system. He has been threatening this change since shortly after buying Twitter last fall and has presented it as a way of treating everyone equally. However, critics argue that the new system could make it easier for people to scam or impersonate high-profile users.
The controversy highlights Musk's tendency to guide decisions about the platform by whim rather than policy. Twitter's blue bird logo at the top of the site was also replaced with doge, a meme representing the cryptocurrency dogecoin, which Musk has promoted. The price of dogecoin shot up 20% on Monday following this move.
As experts warn that reserving verification for paid users may not reduce the number of bots on the site, Musk's strategy is likely to continue to spark controversy and confusion among Twitter users.
I'm literally FREAKING OUT right now!!! Elon Musk is at it AGAIN with his crazy Twitter purge plan!!! 
So like he was gonna take away blue check marks from everyone, but NOPE! He just targeted The New York Times' main account for some reason 
and now they're all confused because their verification labels are all weirded out 
. Like what even is the deal? Can't we just have clear verification labels or something?! 
I'm so done with Elon's antics, can't he just make up his mind already?! 
And btw, dogecoin is back in the game! 
Anyone else feeling me on this?! 
. It seems like a huge double standard - they're treating everyone equally, right? But seriously, who makes the call on whether an account gets to keep their blue check mark? Shouldn't it be about how credible and trustworthy the content is? I'm worried that this new system will just make the platform more confusing for users... and what's up with the doge logo 
? Like, I get it, Musk likes it, but come on! Can we just have a simple way to verify accounts without all these twists and turns? 
i dont get why he would take out ny times' blue check just cuz they refused to pay for it tho 
anyway, this whole thing got me thinking - if u gotta pay 8 bucks a month 2 stay verified, doesnt that sound like a total scam? 
and what about all the bots on there already? wont paying 8 bucks make 'em legit too? 
. And can we talk about how the dogecoin meme just crashed into the site? 
it's like, dude you can't just dictate rules based on your mood and expect everything to work out fine 
and whats up with elon being all unpredictable? first he wants to punish accounts who dont pay for verification now hes just slapping a label on them meanwhile the prices went up for twitter blue again like 5 times this year lol 
it's just weird. i mean, i get that he wants to make everyone equal, but does he have to pick on a major publication just because they didn't want to pay for the fancy blue check mark? 
the new label is kinda confusing too - is it just me or do users think verified accounts are notable individuals or just people who paid $8/month? 
anyway, I'm keeping an eye on this one...
. And what's with the doge logo 
.
. The problem isn't "legacy" blue checks; it's all these bots and scammers who'll be enabled by this new system 
. This is just a way to stir up controversy, keep the chatter going, and line his pockets with dogecoin cash 
. The fact that they're making legacy blue check holders pay $8 per month to keep their label is just a bit confusing, and now users are wondering if verified accounts are notable individuals or just paying customers 
But instead Musk just screws up and targets the wrong account...