As announced, Twitter on Thursday began removing the free verification ticks previously given to celebrities and relevant people for free. Now only paying subscription customers of the short message service have the same-looking icon in their profiles – but without real verification of their identity.
Numerous celebrities affected
Among the celebrities whose accounts were without the white tick on a blue background on Thursday were soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldothe actress Halle Berry and numerous musicians such as Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Shakira and Justin Timberlake.
Now anyone can pretend to be her, criticized the singer Dionne Warwick in advance, whose account also lost the verification bag. The symbols were introduced so users could be sure that no one was impersonating a celebrity, politician, or athlete. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, after buying Twitter for around $44 billion, claimed the process for awarding the ticks was “corrupt” been. That’s why everyone should now pay for it.
3 prominent exceptions
Many celebrities have announced that they will not be subscribing to Musk’s Twitter. Actors are among the critics William Shatnerbasketball player LeBron James and author Stephen King. Musk personally took over the subscription costs for them, as he writes on Twitter. This is probably an attempt to annoy her.
The Pope also lost verification ticks
Also the Twitter account of Pope Francis has lost the free verification tick. The Pope has since the era of Benedict XVI. a Twitter profile. The first short papal message opened on December 12, 2012 read: “Dear friends! I am happy to connect with you via Twitter. Thank you for the nice replies. I bless you from the bottom of my heart”. Pope Francis took over the account from his predecessor when he was elected in March 2013. The Pope now tweets in nine languages - including Latin.
Golden tick for 950 euros per month
Traditionally, most of Twitter’s business has come from advertising. After the Musk acquisition, there was a churn of advertisers. He hopes more now Subscription Revenue by users and companies. Making the tick icon part of a subscription is part of the plan.
With the new model, there is actual verification only for Pursue. But they should also pay significantly more money for their golden yellow tick: 950 Euro per month instead of the 9.52 euros for individual users.
