Elon Musk Cancels New Twitter Badges Just Hours After Rollout
Here’s a quick recap: In the short time since Elon Musk assumed the helm at Twitter, the social media platform has undergone several changes.
Most significantly, users will be charged for the coveted blue check mark, which will no longer just authenticate notable figures.
To differentiate actual celebrities and organizations from just regular users, Twitter then decided to briefly introduce gray check marks for all official accounts, meant to help tell them apart from the blue ticks.
However, just hours after the rollout, the free gray check marks disappeared from the network, with Musk tweeting that he “just killed it,” and that the “blue check will be the great leveler.”
Update: It's now gone https://t.co/5C0t7txi14
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) November 9, 2022
He felt that aside from being an “aesthetic nightmare,” the differing verifications created “a two-class system,” in which one may be seen as more valuable than the other.
If you thought things were finally slowing down, you’d be wrong. The billionaire later added that “Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months,” signaling even more experimental changes that may or may not stick around long-term.
“Elon is willing to try lots of things—many will fail, some will succeed. The goal is to find the right mix of successful changes to ensure the long-term health and growth of the business,” tweeted Esther Crawford, who works on Twitter Blue.
Hang tight—who knows what’s next.
There are no sacred cows in product at Twitter anymore. Elon is willing to try lots of things -- many will fail, some will succeed. The goal is to find the right mix of successful changes to ensure the long-term health and growth of the business. https://t.co/cMf27EmmpJ
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 9, 2022
[via Gizmodo and CNET, cover image via Yalcinsonat | Dreamstime.com]
