Pretty soon, previously verified Twitter accounts will lose their checkmarks unless they start paying for it. The website has announced that it will “begin winding down [its] legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks” on April 1st. It was never a secret that the company intended to do so. Shortly after Twitter Blue first launched in November 2022, company chief Elon Musk said that “far too many corrupt legacy Blue ‘verification’ checkmarks exist” and that the company is removing them in the coming months.
Now, it seems the time has come for legacy verified users to lose their blue ticks — that is, if Twitter isn’t merely laying groundwork for an April Fools’ joke. Musk, after all, thinks he’s funny. It’s also unclear if the website plans to yank their verified checkmarks all at once or in batches. We’d reach out to the company to ask for clarification, but then all we’d get back in response is a poop emoji.
Twitter’s announcement for legacy verified user came just as Blue subscriptions became available worldwide. Previously only accessible within certain regions, this rollout brings the service within reach of most people. In addition to getting a blue tick next to their usernames, paying subscribers will be able to make 4,000-character tweets, edit their posts and enjoy higher reply rankings. Expanding Blue’s availability is necessary if Twitter wants to achieve Musk’s goal of getting half its revenue from subscriptions. We’ll just have to wait and see whether enough people around the world are willing to pay $8 per month (or $11, if they pay through the iOS app) for its perks.
