Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been threatening to do away with “legacy” blue check marks for months. On April 20, the company finally did.
Tomorrow, 4/20, we are removing the legacy verified checkmark. To stay verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOXAX
Organizations can sign up for verified organizations here: https://t.co/YtPVNYypHU
— Twitter Verified (@verified) April 19, 2023
Legacy Czech users started noticing the change on Thursday afternoon. Celebrities from Kim Kardashian (75.1 million followers) to Selena Gomez (65 million) no longer have official verification. Pope is also out of luck.
They actually took his check pic.twitter.com/KSyBRvc12m
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) April 20, 2023
Although Musk promised advertisers last October that the app wouldn’t turn into a “free-for-all hellscape,” it’s unclear how Twitter will maintain a sense of legitimacy.
Related: ‘This would be a nightmare’: Mark Cuban slams Elon Musk’s new Twitter verification system
Twitter users can purchase Twitter Blue for $8 per month. In addition to “Blue Check”, subscribers can create tweets longer than 280 characters, edit tweets and upload videos up to 60 minutes long.
Related: More than half of Twitter’s top advertisers have quit, according to a new report
However, Twitter users who lost their checks didn’t mind.
The blue check is gone… I feel ok???
— Garcel Beauvais (@garcelby) April 20, 2023
By blue check mark, the chaos continues.
— Andrew Horowitz (@adhorowi) April 20, 2023
I just realized the blue check is gone. Bye. ?? pic.twitter.com/LK27xtq09b
— Robert Hernandez (@webjournalist) April 20, 2023
Gone are the legacy verified blue checks
‘Verified’ notifications are now spam filtered! Feel free to block everyone out there pic.twitter.com/WpWiKCNXLw
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) April 20, 2023
My blue check is gone pic.twitter.com/jmNOtdc0oD
— Carrie Courogen (@carriecourogen) April 20, 2023
However, at least one celebrity claims that they appear to be subscribed to Twitter Blue even though they signed up and did not verify the phone number. Stephen King who has been Twitter sounds about BlueThere are still blue checks.
My Twitter account says I’m subscribed to Twitter Blue. i don’t have
My Twitter account says I have provided a phone number. i don’t have— Stephen King (@stephenking) April 20, 2023
It’s not clear if this is Musk’s way of trolling the author or if it’s a mistake, but based on Musk’s sense of humor, the former may be true.