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 symbol in their profiles – but without real verification of their identity. Among the celebrities whose accounts were without the white tick on a blue background on Thursday were soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, 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 tick. The symbols were introduced so users could be sure that no one was impersonating celebrities, politicians or athletes. After buying Twitter for around $44 billion, tech billionaire Elon Musk claimed that the process for awarding the ticks was “corrupt”. That’s why everyone should pay for it now. Many celebrities have announced that they will not be subscribing to Musk’s Twitter.
Traditionally, most of Twitter’s business has come from advertising. After the Musk acquisition, there was a churn of advertisers. He now hopes more for subscription revenues from 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 companies. But they should also pay significantly more money for their golden tick: 950 euros per month instead of 9.52 euros for individual users.