Hyderabad: Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has begun restoring complimentary blue checks for some of its users, 'for free', leaving most of the users in confusion.
For years, the blue checks on Twitter mirrored verification badges, which are widely used on social media and are mostly reserved for high-profile accounts, such as celebrities, politicians, and other influential figures. However, in the months following Musk’s purchase of the platform in October 2022 (for $44 billion), X began only issuing verification checks to users who paid the $8-per-month starting fee.
Many celebrities and other high-profile accounts were stripped of their verification badges. This led to confusion and complaints, as well as an influx of fake accounts posing as someone else, including blue checks.
On Wednesday night and early Thursday, many users reported seeing blue checks reappear on their accounts or showing up for the very first time, even though they weren’t paying for ‘premium’ services on X at the time. In a statement last week, Musk said that “all X accounts with over 2.5k verified subscriber followers will receive Premium features, including a checkmark, for free from now on, and that those with more than 5,000 will get Premium+.”
Neither Elon Musk or any representative from the company has yet commented on the latest development. The return of blue checkmarks without subscriptions raises concerns about transparency within this platform's evolving verification policies.
The social media platform, which is venturing into becoming an everything app, has faced mixed reactions from the users on providing them the blue checks. While a handful of users were excited about the verification, others were frustrated.
"Uh oh, my bluecheck is back, more tribalistic people are finna see my tweets now," a user on X sarcastically wrote. "Wait a minute, my blue check is back. I didn’t buy it. Are they giving them back to those who got them through actual verification in the first place?" a user who goes by the name @BrentToderian wrote.
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