Elon Musk's plan for a Twitter purge of blue check marks appears to have been botched. The billionaire CEO had announced that users would lose their verified status unless they paid $8 per month for the Twitter Blue subscription service, which was supposed to start winding down blue checks on April 1.
Instead, it seems Musk singled out one high-profile account - that of the New York Times, a publication he has publicly disdained. The news organization's main account lost its blue check mark over the weekend, while its other accounts remained verified.
Musk had promised to "treat everyone equally" with his new verification system, but it appears he was just trying to drum up revenue. The move has sparked confusion and concern among users who fear that verifying only paid subscribers could make it easier for scammers and impersonators to target high-profile users.
The decision also raises questions about whether Musk's plan will actually reduce the number of bots on the site, a problem he has repeatedly raised but failed to address effectively. The new label appended to verified accounts makes it unclear whether they are notable individuals or just paying customers.
As one example of Musk's erratic approach to Twitter policy, his company replaced the blue bird logo with doge, the meme representing cryptocurrency dogecoin, which is closely associated with Musk himself. This bizarre move seems designed to further muddy the waters and keep users guessing about what changes will happen next on the platform.
Despite promises from Elon that his new verification system would be fair, it appears he's just making things up as he goes along. Twitter fans are now left wondering if they'll ever really get a clear picture of what's happening behind the scenes at this increasingly erratic social media giant.
Instead, it seems Musk singled out one high-profile account - that of the New York Times, a publication he has publicly disdained. The news organization's main account lost its blue check mark over the weekend, while its other accounts remained verified.
Musk had promised to "treat everyone equally" with his new verification system, but it appears he was just trying to drum up revenue. The move has sparked confusion and concern among users who fear that verifying only paid subscribers could make it easier for scammers and impersonators to target high-profile users.
The decision also raises questions about whether Musk's plan will actually reduce the number of bots on the site, a problem he has repeatedly raised but failed to address effectively. The new label appended to verified accounts makes it unclear whether they are notable individuals or just paying customers.
As one example of Musk's erratic approach to Twitter policy, his company replaced the blue bird logo with doge, the meme representing cryptocurrency dogecoin, which is closely associated with Musk himself. This bizarre move seems designed to further muddy the waters and keep users guessing about what changes will happen next on the platform.
Despite promises from Elon that his new verification system would be fair, it appears he's just making things up as he goes along. Twitter fans are now left wondering if they'll ever really get a clear picture of what's happening behind the scenes at this increasingly erratic social media giant.
HE PROMISED TO TREAT EVERYONE EQUALY, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE HE JUST WANTED TO RAKE IN THE DOLLARS FROM PAYING SUBSCRIBERS. I MEAN, WHO NEEDS BLUE CHECK MARKS WHEN YOU CAN PAY $8 A MONTH? IT'S A TOTAL SHAM!!! 
AND NOW THAT THE NEW YORK TIMES ACCOUNT LOST ITS VERIFICATION, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE TARGETED BY SCAMMERS EVEN MORE! 
THIS IS JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW MUSK IS CHANGING TWITTER TO FIT HIS OWN AGENDA. I DON'T TRUST HIM AS FAR AS I CAN THROW A LAPTOP!!! 
. This whole thing with Elon Musk and his verification system is like a joke. First, he says everyone will be treated equally, but then he goes and singles out one high-profile account (NY Times) just to make an example of himself. I mean, what's the point of even having blue checks if it's just going to be a paid subscription? It sounds like a way to make money off users who want to be verified.
. It's just another example of Musk trying to make a quick buck off Twitter users.
! Musk's got a reputation for being all over the place and making crazy decisions 
. And honestly, his plan to charge users $8/month just to keep their blue check mark sounds like a total scam 
. Like, what even is the point of paying extra to be verified? It's not like it's some kind of premium membership or anything 
. And can we talk about how confusing this whole situation is? 
Musk needs to get his act together and figure out what he actually wants to do with Twitter before he screws over everyone else 
. Maybe this whole debacle will make people sit up and take notice of how messed up the verification system is on Twitter 
. And maybe, just maybe, Musk'll come out with something even better than before 
. A girl can dream, right? 
. Losing the blue check mark for The New York Times is just weird - did he really target them specifically? 
. Can someone please clarify what's going on?! 
. First, they change the logo to doge, and now this whole blue check mark thing... it just feels like he's making stuff up as he goes along 
.
.
.
. Losing Twitter Blue and getting your verified status taken away is definitely gonna scare off some users 
.
. If it's not being implemented correctly, then what's the point? It just feels like another one of his harebrained schemes 
. I wish he'd just be more transparent and communicate with users instead of making stuff up as he goes along 
.
. What's next? Paying to be part of the "in crowd"? 
. I'm not surprised Musk's trying to drum up revenue at the expense of user trust 
.
. i'm lowkey scared Elon's just making stuff up as he goes along 
. first off, it makes no sense that one high-profile account like nytimes lost their blue check mark while others kept theirs. it's all just a way for him to make money off of verified accounts 
. It feels like he's more focused on getting people to shell out cash for the paid subscription than actually fixing the problems with verification.
. Can't we just have a calm, rational approach to social media platforms for once? 
... I mean, who thought that was a good idea? It's just another example of how Musk is making things up as he goes along and causing more chaos 
. Losing the NY Times' main account's verification status is a pretty clear example of this - what's next? Verifying all the accounts that pay up, but not the ones that actually have something worth saying?