Elon Musk has always been a man of surprises, and his latest venture – X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is no exception. Some of its users recently found themselves in a state of confusion as complimentary blue checks began appearing on their accounts.
Blue checks have held a significant place in the social media realm. They were, for the most part, reserved for celebrities, politicians, and other influential accounts. The main purpose was to verify the authenticity of these accounts.
However, a major shift was observed after Elon Musk bought the platform for a whopping $44 billion in October 2022.
In the months that followed the acquisition, X began issuing verification checks only to those users willing to pay a starting price of $8 per month. Consequently, many celebrities and other prominent accounts lost their verification badges.
This move stirred up confusion and complaints, leading to a surge in fake accounts pretending to be someone else, complete with a blue check.
But recently, an unexpected shift was noted. Numerous users reported the reappearance of blue checks on their accounts, despite not paying for ‘premium’ services on X.
“What happened? I didn’t pay for this. I would NEVER pay for this,” – Yvette Nicole Brown, actress.
Some users even noted that the blue check has evolved into a signal of support for the platform’s new ownership and subscription model. They shared instructions on how to remove newly-placed blue checks through settings changes.
Last week, Musk announced that all X accounts with more than 2,500 verified subscriber followers would get Premium features, which includes a checkmark, for free. Accounts with over 5,000 would get Premium+ for free.
The specific reasoning behind this new policy was not clear, and X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While some users were excited about the verification, others were frustrated. Some shared a notification they received on the platform that they were getting the free Premium subscription “as an influential member of the community on X.”
Beyond blue checks, X has faced user and advertiser pushback amid ongoing concerns about content moderation, misinformation, and hate speech on the platform. Some researchers say these issues have been on the rise under Musk.
Big-name brands, including IBM, NBCUniversal and Comcast, announced they would stop advertising on X after their ads appeared alongside material that praised Nazis. In response, Musk accused the companies of “blackmail” with an expletive-ridden rant.
X has since also tried to sue those who documented the spread of hate speech and racism on the platform. However, their attempt was dismissed by a federal judge last week.
