 "The Tale of Ticks: What’s the grey checkmark that Twitter introduced, then killed? What happens to the blue?")
Twitter as we know it is changing under its new owner Elon Musk. The past two weeks, since the billionaire’s takeover, have seen brouhaha around the blue tick – the verified Twitter account. Among the first decisions he took was to charge for the coveted verification – a price of $8.
Now a Twitter executive has said that the social media platform will introduce an “official label” for select verified accounts. It will be the main distinguishing factor, over and above the blue tick.
However, hours after rolling them out, these “official labels” which were distinguished by a grey tick began to disappear. Why? Because Musk decided to “kill it”.
Is this just one of Musk’s many u-turns? What’s going on with Twitter and its verification process? We take a look.
Also read: Twitter Blue Tick for $8: What new features will users get
What is (was?) the “official label”?
Esther Crawford, Twitter’s early-stage products executive, said on Tuesday, that the company would introduce an “official” label for select verified accounts when it launches its new $8 Twitter Blue service. Not all previously verified accounts will get the label and it is not available for purchase.
Not all previously verified accounts will get the “Official” label and the label is not available for purchase. Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022
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View All“Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures,” Crawford tweeted.
How are these labels different from the blue tick?
To distinguish high-profile individuals and organisations, Twitter started rolling out new badges for several official accounts. These labels appeared as grey checkmarks beneath the blue verification tick.
Accounts with the two ticks – blue and grey – would be designated as “official”. According to TechCrunch, its Twitter handle showed the grey check for a while on 9 November along with US Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mitt Romney.
American YouTuber Marques Brownlee tweeted about the two verified checks on Wednesday evening.
“So now there’s two verified checks. One that shows next to your profile in replies, in retweets, and everywhere else: It means you’re a Twitter Blue subscriber.”
“The other one (“Official”) only shows up on certain profiles and on tImeline,” he tweeted.
So now there’s two verified checks. One that shows next to your profile in replies, in retweets, and everywhere else: It means you’re a Twitter Blue subscriber.
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) November 9, 2022
The other one (“Official”) only shows up on certain profiles and on tlmeline…… pic.twitter.com/qXZ1lfxFIc
But the grey tick did not last long. It disappeared in no time.
Is the grey tick gone already?
About two hours later, Brownlee had an update. The grey tick disappeared.
Update: It's now gone https://t.co/5C0t7txi14
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) November 9, 2022
What happened there? Well, Musk decided to “kill” the official badge, the grey checkmark, less than 24 hours after it was introduced.
I just killed it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
Why did Musk “kill” the grey tick?
It’s not clear but Twitter said that it is not putting an “official label” on accounts yet but is “aggressively” going after impersonation and deception.
Update: https://t.co/fSYkpVJ1BD
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 9, 2022
The billionaire decided to crack down on impersonations, taking a tough stand against parody accounts after users were seen changing their account handle names to Elon Musk, using his profile picture, after the takeover. “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody,” he had tweeted.
Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
Amid the ‘grey label’ fiasco, Musk said, “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”
Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.
So has the ‘grey’ tick gone for good?
Not if Crawford is to be believed. She said that the “official” labels are “still going out” as a part of the new Twitter Blue product launch on iOS in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, reports TechCrunch. The focus will be on government and commercial entities for now.
Offering clarification for Musk’s “killing it” tweet, she wrote, “What you saw him mention was the fact that we’re not focusing on giving individuals the “Official” label right now.”
The official label is still going out as part of the @TwitterBlue launch -- we are just focusing on government and commercial entities to begin with. What you saw him mention was the fact that we're not focusing on giving individuals the "Official" label right now.
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 9, 2022
What happens to the blue tick?
Twitter has said that it will continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.
It appears that the accounts with the blue tick will remain… for now. Crawford confirmed that the revamped Twitter Blue subscription product, which will allow paid users to have their accounts verified with a blue checkmark, will not verify users’ identities with identification cards or materials.
The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022
Before Musk’s acquisition verified accounts had to go through a process of submitting identification to get the blue checkmark.
The new Twitter Blue is an “opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features”.
The verification process is still a work in progress as Twitter continues to ruffle feathers with Musk’s many flip-flops.
_With inputs from agencies
_
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