Twitter To Phase Out Legacy Verified Checkmarks Starting April 1, Company Confirms

Twitter Blue is now being rolled out globally and it's time to say goodbye to legacy verified checkmarks. Essentially, to remain verified now, users need to pay up. Those who were verified as part of Twitter 1.0's verification mechanism will lose their verified ticks if they don't pay for Twitter Blue - a service that offers a verified tick and a host of other features like prioritised visibility.

Unsplash

Goodbye, free checkmarks!

According to Twitter, these so-called "legacy checkmarks" will start disappearing from the platform by April 1 under the recent leadership of Elon Musk, who had described the existing programme as corrupt after buying the platform last year.

On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp

Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3¡­

¡ª Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023

Now, the verification checks will be available exclusively as part of the Twitter Blue subscription that costs ?650-900 ($8-11 in the US) a month.

Subscribers of this service not only receive a blue tick but also get prioritised replies and searches, which Elon Musk claims can fight spam.

If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022

In addition, premium subscribers also get half the ads and the added ability to edit their tweets.

Unsplash

Also read: How Twitter Scammers Are Fooling People Into Giving Away Their Bank Credentials

The problem with Musk's verified rollout is that many prominent figures who are not paying subscribers will essentially lose the checkmark.

If they're journalists or public figures, there's a good chance that they will get impersonated (as we saw in the beginning of Musk's Twitter Blue rollout), all the while limiting the reach of important public-facing information, especially in case of emergencies.

Unsplash

It's no surprise that Musk doesn't really care about that. Earlier this week, Musk openly bragged about how all queries sent to Twitter's press email are automatically sent back the poop emoji as a response.

Also read: Writer Claims To Have Manipulated Twitter's New 'For You' Feed To Go Viral Again

Are you a paying Twitter Blue subscriber? If not, would you be open to paying for the same? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.