A Twitter official in charge of early-stage products, Esther Crawford, has said that the $8 per month verification badge announced by Elon Musk will not be based on verified identity. Rather, she said it is just a paid subscription, which anybody can opt in and opt out of.
According to her, this is why Twitter is also introducing the ‘Official’ label to distinguish between subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official.
Through the official labeling, she says accounts that will receive the label include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers, and some public figures.
Before now, Twitter verification was to authenticate that an account owner was real. It usually involved a long process, which includes the submission of a national ID to verify the identity of an account owner.
Distinguishing label: Reacting to questions on how an account a paid Twitter Blue account can be differentiated from an account that has a verified identity, Crawford in a Twitter post said:
- “A lot of folks have asked about how you’ll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official” label to select accounts when we launch.
- “Not all previously verified accounts will get the “Official” label and the label is not available for purchase. The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.”
Twitter Blue Subscribers: Meanwhile Nairametrics can confirm existing Twitter Blue subscribers received messages that their current subscription model will stop in place of a new model.
- Twitter also said existing Twitter Blue subscribers who initially subscribed on iOS will need to upgrade to the higher price on iOS to receive a blue checkmark.
- The message suggests the social media platform is on the brink of introducing a revised subscription feature.
- Currently, Twitter Blue users pay about $2.99 per Nairametrics check.
Implication: While Twitter verification was free until the recent acquisition of the company by Elon Musk, the introduction of payment for verification means that anybody can get verified without his or her true identity being established.
- Analysts also fear that this may lead to spam accounts being verified. But Musk says the payment will end the discrimination between verified and unverified Twitter users since everybody can now get verified.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk admitted in a tweet that “Twitter will do lots of dumb things” as it tries to figure out what works for the social media platform.
Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months.
We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
