Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Reuters
On Thursday, the second-most jarring rapture, following HBO’s The Leftovers, hit Earth. Twitter finally made good on CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly drawn-out promise to remove the platform’s so-called “legacy” verification checkmarks for anyone not paying for its premium subscription service, Twitter Blue.
Musk first teased the change shortly after his October 2022 purchase of the social media giant. In the near future, he announced, paying for the pre-existing Twitter Blue would grant users all the benefits of the service (like seeing fewer ads and the ability to post longer videos), along with slapping the brand’s coveted blue checkmark onto their accounts. Prior to this, checkmarks were reserved for organizations and users who were deemed notable in news media, government positions, or entertainment industries. Under Musk’s plan, users outside of Twitter’s usual designations could attain what Musk seemed to perceive as merely a status symbol, for only $8 a month.
The rollout of Twitter Blue-verified checkmarks was halted several times over the past few months, due to issues like rampant impersonation. After designating longtime-verified users’ checkmarks as “legacy checkmarks,” Musk confirmed that he would be removing any unpaid blue checks, calling the way that they were given out “corrupt.”