{"id":1722,"date":"2024-04-05T15:13:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T15:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/elon-musks-x-causes-confusion-as-free-blue-ticks-make-a-comeback\/"},"modified":"2024-04-05T15:13:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T15:13:11","slug":"elon-musks-x-causes-confusion-as-free-blue-ticks-make-a-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/elon-musks-x-causes-confusion-as-free-blue-ticks-make-a-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s X causes confusion as free blue ticks make a comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

X has caused confusion by reinstating free blue ticks for some users – a year after it began charging for the service.<\/p>\n

For years, Twitter blue ticks effectively served as verification badges and were given to celebrities, politicians, journalists, and other influential accounts for free.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

However, months after Elon Musk <\/strong>purchased Twitter for $44bn (\u00a338bn) in October 2022<\/strong>, the platform stripped verification badges from accounts and instead began offering them as part of an $8-a-month premium service.<\/p>\n

The move caused confusion as a large number of fake accounts pretending to another person or an organisation obtained verification simply by purchasing it.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, some bewildered Twitter users noticed their blue ticks were back despite the fact they hadn’t subscribed to X’s premium offering.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Comedian David Baddiel was among the users whose tick has made a comeback, while Jonathan Pie – who is a fictional character created by Tom Walker – also found himself in possession of one.<\/p>\n

Another prominent user suddenly verified was @number10cat – a parody account for Downing Street’s Larry the cat, which does not have government approval.<\/p>\n

Since the premium subscription was introduced, blue ticks have commonly been seen as a sign of support for Musk and his X strategy – which led to multiple accounts sharing instructions on how to remove the symbols through setting changes.<\/p>\n

X has not officially addressed the latest move though Musk said last week that all accounts with more than 2,500 verified subscriber followers would receive premium features – including the tick – for free.<\/p>\n

In posts about the change, some users shared screengrabs of a notification that said they were getting the free premium service “as an influential member of the community on X”.<\/p>\n

The time since Musk’s X takeover in October 2022 have been tumultuous<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The billionaire has laid off thousands of staff and faced scrutiny over the spread of misinformation and hate speech on the platform.<\/p>\n

In his first year in charge, ad revenue dropped by at least 55%.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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