Twitter Starts Removing Blue Ticks From Verified Users

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Facts

  • After months of delays, Twitter on Thursday began removing blue ticks from verified users who did not sign up for its paid subscription service Twitter Blue.1
  • Users who lost their blue ticks included popular figures including Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey, and the former US Pres. Trump.2
  • Twitter had around 300K verified accounts under the original blue-check system, which largely was comprised of journalists, athletes, and public figures. It was meant to verify that a user was who they said they were and prevent impersonation.3
  • However, individual users need to pay $8 per month to keep their blue ticks today, while organizations are charged a starting price of $1K a month with an extra $50 per month for each affiliate or employee account.4
  • Meanwhile, Twitter does not confirm the person's identity like the original blue-check system; it only verifies a user's phone number, which means the blue tick is no longer a mark to symbolize the authenticity of an account.5
  • The microblogging service, which Elon Musk bought for $44B last year, is currently valued at less than $20B.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Associated Press, 3Euronews, 4The National, 5The Times of Israel, and 6Guardian.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Quartz. Musk can sugarcoat it all he wants, but Twitter is an ad-reliant platform, and ad sales are projected to drop by around 28% this year over last. And the number one problem is Musk: Advertisers can’t trust him, especially since he’s rolled back rules related to objectionable content and revamped the verification system. For Twitter to survive, it must do better than break even, which will only happen when the platform is separated from Musk’s personal brand.
  • Narrative B, as provided by MarketWatch. Saving Twitter was a challenging task, but it looks like the worst is behind Musk and the platform. Twitter now has a sleeker workforce and a subscription model that'll help offset advertising losses. Moreover, many advertisers are returning after waiting to see what Musk would do with the company. In a matter of months, Twitter could be in the black.

Predictions