New about-face on the account certification system. Users with a large number of subscribers on
Before the takeover of the social network by the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, the blue checkmark was free but reserved for notorious accounts. It thus made it possible to authenticate the accounts of political and media personalities, institutions and journalists.
Surprised or even angry users
Elon Musk, considering this system unfair for non-famous users, made blue checkmarks accessible to everyone, but paid (via subscriptions), thus depriving thousands of accounts of this attribute.
But this Wednesday at the end of the day, some users were surprised, even angry, to see that their blue checkmark had been restored. A message from X explained that they had received free subscriptions as an “influential member” of the network. The California-based company added that it “reserves the right to cancel the free subscription at its sole discretion.”
A cry for help from Elon Musk?
Elon Musk indicated last week that “in the future, all X accounts with more than 2,500 authenticated subscribers will benefit from Premium features for free [qui permettent d’être rémunérés et d’avoir la fameuse coche bleue] and accounts with more than 5,000 subscribers will benefit from Premium + features for free [qui ne voient plus de publicités et dont les messages ont plus de chances d’être lus] “.
Some users saw this unexpected gift as a cry for help from Elon Musk. “Pay 8 dollars? I’m kidding. Help me. But don’t talk too freely about me or my rotten Tower of Babel,” joked on actor Jeffrey Wrightwhich received an unsolicited check mark.
Since the billionaire bought Twitter for $44 billion at the end of 2022, the social network’s advertising business, crucial to its survival, has collapsed. Because brands appreciate neither erratic governance nor the weakening of content moderation.