Culture

The Blue Tick Is Out, Misinformation Is In

"Twitter Blue will be a marketing case study for years to come"

by Charles Rushforth  24 April 2023
Elon musk wearing dark jacket and shirt giving two thumbs up to the camera

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In case you missed it, blue ticks aren’t cool any more, as Twitter CEO Elon Musk reportedly gives verification back to millions of users in a last-minute change to the subscription service Twitter Blue. 

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Sticking to his guns despite potential fines worth more than the value of Twitter itself, Elon Musk followed through on his promise to purge verified blue ticks in favour of his new subscription model, Twitter Blue. The reaction from public figures after discovering they were now seated in economy class along with the rest of us varied, but nobody took it worse than Jason Alexander. 

George Costanza Rage Quits Twitter Over Losing His Blue Tick

In a fit worthy of his Seinfeld character George Costanza, Alexander quit the social media platform altogether after discovering his verification had been stolen from him in the night, leaving the website in favour of Instagram and some sort of DIY plant website called Spoutable.  

Did Alexander have cause for his umbrage? Could losing your certified status really be that big of a deal? Well yeah, it turns out verification is pretty important as elsewhere on the site, stuff like this was happening. 

Twitter Removes Verification For Government Departments And Entire Countries

It’s an idea that many of us questioned back in the beginning. Isn’t it extremely dangerous to allow people to buy their way into verification? How will significant public figures or government departments differentiate themselves from a sea of imitators online? 

The answer to that question, for the non-terminally online but actually useful pantheon of government departments and internationally recognised diplomatic figures on Twitter, was an unattractive grey tick. Previously gifted by Twitter as a stop-gap measure to signal the authenticity of serious government officials like the president of Tunisia, Musk and co removed the grey tick altogether without warning over the weekend. 

But in case you really needed any further proof that turning verification into a subscription service is a bad idea, look no further than domestic comedy outfit Aunty Donny, which  instantly fell victim to a disinformation prank after losing their blue verified tick. In a since-deleted tweet, an internet troll poising as the comedy three-piece made a false poster announcing that Aunty Donna’s Coffee Shop had been renewed for a second season. “Removing the blue ticks going well for us!!” Aunty Donny sardonically posted in response. 

Blue Ticks Mysteriously Come Back To Life For Celebrities Like Steven King

But then something mysterious started happening. To the horror of celebrities like Steven King, who had previously been outspoken critics of Elon’s decision-making as Twitter CEO, a blue tick reappeared on their profiles overnight like a recurring mite rash. “This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number,” an accompanying text explanation cited. 

Had the master of horror suddenly lost his nerve, succumbing to the subscription model like one of the protagonists from Salem? Or, as a well-known public figure and notable enemy of Elon, could Twitter be paying his Twitter Blue subscription as a sort of psyop? 

The truth appears to fall into the latter category, with Twitter reportedly automatically verifying accounts with over one million followers, forcing celebrities to collectively deny that they’d spent $8 on Twitter Blue. 

#BlockTheBlue Seeks To Block Twitter Blue “Cretins” From Your Feed

As Twitter’s new feature became rapidly uncool at speeds unseen since the fidget spinner, a grassroots movement under the hashtag #blocktheblue quickly flourished on social media. Spearheaded by Twitter personalities like @Dril, users were encouraged to cleanse their timelines by blocking anybody they suspected of paying for Twitter Blue.

“99% of twitter blue guys are dead-eyed cretins who are usually trying to sell you something stupid and expensive, and now they want to pay a monthly subscription fee to boost their dog shit posts front and center,” @dril told Mashable, describing the rationale of #blocktheblue.

The movement then hit a snag after Twitter predictably banned Block The Blue’s official account on the social media platform. Elon saved his most severe punishment for @dril, who was branded with a blue tick for his defiance.

While @dril would later have the mark removed after an official review of his account, Musk was deliberately holding back free Twitter Blue samples from a very important subset of Twitter users: advertisers. In a statement, Twitter confirmed that potential advertisers must subscribe to Twitter Blue in order to have their ads displayed on the social media platform, unless they’ve spent more than $1000 per month. Then they’ll receive a gold “Verified Organization” tick instead.

The best days on Twitter generate a wild “bird in a primary school classroom” energy. The overlooked thing about Musk’s leadership at Twitter is that despite his inability to run a social media service, he definitely understands that chaos equals content. While the last year of Elon’s reign has generated thousands of “I was there” moments for its users, compromised social media services can produce devastating results. As Twitter becomes increasingly destabilised for laughs in real-time, celebrities denying they paid for Twitter Blue might be less funny looking back.