Twitter's blue tick system began as a way to counter celebrity impersonators, but now the company's new owner wants people to pay.
abc.net.au/news/twitter-s-blue-check-vital-verification-or-status-symbol/101618292The story of Twitter's blue check marks — a simple verification system that's come to be viewed as an elite status symbol — began with some high-profile impersonations, just as the site began taking off in 2008 and 2009.
After floating the idea of charging users $20 a month for the "blue check" and some extra features, he appeared to quickly scale it back in a Twitter exchange with author Stephen King, who posted "If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron". "Verification is intended to ensure the integrity of accounts and conversations on the platform, rather than a premium feature meant to elevate the experience.
"Turning users into customers isn't an easy sell, and the value exchange has to be right in order for it to pay off," she said. "Of roughly 300,000 verified accounts on Twitter we would estimate only about 25 per cent would go down this path ultimately, and pay the $8 per month fee," Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said.
Although Mr Musk's exact plans are not clear, experts are raising concerns about the consequences of having a paid verification system which leaves anyone unwilling to pay vulnerable to impersonation — and anyone who does pay the ability to have their Twitter presence boosted by the platform's algorithms.
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