In light of Elon Musk's '4/20' deadline on Friday, Twitter has erased all legacy 'Blue Ticks' for individual accounts. If a person has a legacy verified account on Twitter with a blue tick, he or she will lose it or will have to pay to keep the blue tick. Only accounts enrolled to Twitter Blue will retain their blue checkmarks.
This means that if you have a legacy verified account with a blue checkmark on Twitter, you will now have to pay to keep it. Only accounts enrolled to Twitter Blue will retain their blue checkmarks.
Twitter Blue is priced differently depending on your location and how you sign up. In the United States, iOS or Android users pay $11 per month or $114.99 per year, while web users pay $8 per month or $84 per year. Twitter Blue costs 900 rupees per month for iOS, 650 rupees per month for web, and 9400 rupees per year for iOS. Monthly cost for Android users is 900, while annual pricing is 9,400.
Twitter Verified account has issued an update saying, "To remain verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here."
Twitter states that, “Verified Organizations is a new way for organizations and their affiliates to distinguish themselves on Twitter. Rather than relying on Twitter to be the sole arbiter of truth for which accounts should be verified, vetted organizations that sign up for Verified Organizations are in full control of vetting and verifying accounts they’re affiliated with. Accounts affiliated with the organization will receive an affiliate badge on their profile with the organization’s logo, and will be featured on the organization’s Twitter profile, indicating their affiliation. All organizations are vetted before they can join Verified Organizations."
Musk is making the switch to paid verification in order to generate much-needed revenue for Twitter. The social media platform has also launched a program for businesses and organizations to charge $1,000 per month for verification badges (gold for brands, companies and nonprofits; grey for governments).
The microblogging site first introduced verified accounts in 2009 to help users identify that celebrities, politicians, companies and brands, news organizations, and other accounts of public interest were genuine and not impostors or parody accounts. The company didn't previously charge for verification.
Recently, Musk had said that running the social media network has been "quite a rollercoaster" and acknowledged "many mistakes" along the way, six months after he bought the company for $44 billion. In a live interview with the BBC after agreeing to a last-minute invitation for the "spontaneity" of it, Musk appeared to tacitly acknowledge that one of those errors was the decision to label the broadcaster's account "government-funded media". He said he would change the designation on the BBC's Twitter handle after the broadcaster objected. "We want it as truthful and accurate as possible -- we're adjusting the label to 'publicly funded'," Musk said.