tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe social media company directed any organizations that want to buy a checkmark to yet a different page\u2014which speaks to just how confusing Twitter\u2019s \u201cverification\u201d program has become under Musk. Many different types of checkmarks come in many colors. There\u2019s a gold badge for some businesses, while governments get a gray badge. It\u2019s all a confusing mess, to say the least.<\/p>\n
In 2009, Tony La Russa, a baseball legend filed a suit against Twitter. La Russa had concerns about the impersonator accounts and verified meant that any account marked with a blue checkmark was confirmed to be owned by this notable person.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nSome right-wing media personalities began to view the blue checkmark in a status symbol. This led to calls for the ability to purchase a checkmark after Musk purchased the platform in October 2022. Musk\u2019s rollout of the new Twitter Blue, which charges $8 per month or $11 per month on Apple devices, was a disaster, with several impersonator accounts pretending to be Apple, Tesla and Nintendo while posting highly offensive material.<\/p>\n
One person even pretended to be drugmaker Eli Lily and announced insulin was going to be free, which sent the company\u2019s stock plummeting. It stopped offering users the ability to modify their names. That created its own problems for many reasons. Twitter doesn\u2019t actually verify that anyone paying for Twitter Blue is who they say they are.<\/p>\n
The checkmark\u2019s actual purpose\u2014verifying an account\u2019s identity\u2014will be completely dead in just a couple of weeks. Every time you see the blue checkmark, you can be sure of one thing. That individual, whatever they are, at least has $8.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n