Twitter has announced a $7.99-a-month subscription service that includes a blue check that’s now only offered to verified accounts, as new owner Elon Musk works to overhaul the platform’s verification system just before the mid-term elections in the United States.
In an update for Apple iOS devices available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Twitter said users who “sign up now” can receive the blue checkmark next to their names “as well as the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.”
But Twitter employee Esther Crawford tweeted on Saturday that “the new Blue isn’t out yet – the sprint to our release continues, but some people may see us update as we’re testing and pushing changes in real time” . Verified accounts didn’t seem to miss checks so far.
It was not immediately clear when the subscription would go live, and Crawford did not immediately respond to a message to clarify the timing. Twitter also did not immediately respond to a message for comment.
There are concerns that anyone who can get the blue check could lead to confusion and increased misinformation ahead of Tuesday’s election, but Musk tweeted on Saturday in response to a question about the risk of imposters impersonating verified people, such as politicians and election officials. — that “Twitter will suspend the account that tries to impersonate and keep the money!”
great question Twitter will suspend the account that tries to impersonate and keep the money!
So if scammers want to do this a million times, that’s just a bunch of free money. pic.twitter.com/QUrxqb59I0
—@elonmusk
“So if the scammers want to do this a million times, that’s just a lot of free money,” he said.
But many fear that the widespread layoffs that began Friday could remove the moderation and vetting barriers on the social platform that public agencies, election boards, police departments and media outlets use to keep people informed about reliable way
The change represents the end of Twitter’s current verification system, which was put in place in 2009 to prevent impersonation of high-profile accounts such as celebrities and politicians. Before the overhaul, Twitter had about 423,000 verified accounts, many of them grassroots journalists around the world that the company verified regardless of how many followers they had.
Experts have raised serious concerns about changing the platform’s verification system, which, while not perfect, has helped Twitter’s 238 million daily users determine whether the accounts they were getting information from were authentic. Current verified accounts include celebrities, athletes, influencers and other high-profile public figures, along with government agencies and politicians around the world, journalists and media, activists and companies and brands, and Musk himself.
“He knows the blue check has value, and he’s trying to exploit it quickly,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor of communications at Syracuse University and a social media expert. “You have to earn people’s trust before you can sell them anything. Why would you buy a car from a salesperson who you know has essentially proven to be chaotic?”
People walk outside the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Friday. (Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press)
The update Twitter made to the iOS version of its app doesn’t mention verification as part of the new “blue check” system. As of now, the update is not available on Android devices.
Musk, who previously said he wanted to “verify all humans” on Twitter, has said public figures would be identified in ways other than the blue check. Currently, for example, government officials identify themselves with text below their names indicating that they are posting from an official government account.
President Joe Biden’s @POTUS account, for example, says in gray letters that it belongs to a “United States Government Official.”
Mass redundancies
The change comes a day after the company began laying off workers to cut costs and as more companies are pausing advertising on Twitter as a wary corporate world waits to see how it will fare under its new owner.
About half of the company’s 7,500 employees were laid off, tweeted Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of security and integrity.
He said the company’s front-line content moderation staff was the group least affected by the job cuts and that “efforts for election integrity, including harmful disinformation that can suppress the vote and combating state-backed intelligence operations remain a priority.”
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey took the blame Saturday for the widespread job losses. He had two stints as CEO of Twitter, most recently from 2015 to 2021.
“I am responsible for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the size of the company too quickly,” he tweeted. “I apologize for that.”
The people of Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize that many are angry with me. I am responsible for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the size of the company too quickly. I apologize for that.
—@jack
Musk tweeted late Friday that there was no choice but to cut jobs “when the company is losing over $4 million a day.” He did not provide details on the company’s daily losses and said employees who lost their jobs were offered three months’ pay as compensation.
Meanwhile, Twitter has already seen “a massive drop in revenue” due to pressure from activist groups on advertisers to get off the platform, Musk tweeted on Friday. This affects Twitter a lot because of its heavy reliance on advertising to make money. In the first six months of this year, nearly $92 out of every $100 it earned in revenue came from advertising.
United Airlines became the latest major brand to stop advertising on Twitter. The Chicago-based company confirmed on Saturday that it had made the move, but declined to discuss the reasons for it or what it would need to see to resume advertising on the platform.
LOOK | Musk begins cutting Twitter’s global workforce:
Elon Musk begins plan to cut Twitter’s global workforce in half
Newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk has begun moving forward with his plan to cut up to half of the company’s global workforce, starting with widespread layoffs at the social media company on Friday.
It joined the growing list of big companies pausing ads on Twitter, including General Motors, REI, General Mills and Audi.
Musk tried to reassure advertisers last week, saying Twitter would not become a “free-for-all hellscape” over what he called its commitment to free speech.
But there are still concerns about whether a lighter touch on content moderation on Twitter will lead to users sending more offensive tweets. This could harm companies’ brands if their ads appear alongside.