According to Elon Musk, Twitter Blue verification will only be a luxury for those willing to pay for it. Several well-known news organisations – The New York Times, The Washington Post, and celebrities like LeBron James, Chrissy Teigen have made the conscious decision to not pay for the subscription
Celebrities, public figures, and well-known businesses have long relied on Twitter’s blue tick to confirm that their accounts are credible.
Nevertheless, as the microblogging site transitions to a subscription-based verification system, Twitter says it will remove its blue checkmark verification badges from accounts.
According to Elon Musk, it will only be a luxury for those who are willing to pay for it.
Several well-known American news organisations have already lost their blue checkmark.
They have made the conscious decision to forgo paying for the subscription.
The White House, and news publishers like The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times have already announced that they won’t be paying for the blue tick.
Let’s take a look at celebrities and companies who have refused to pay for Twitter Blue verification and why.
The White House
According to Axios, the White House has also declined to pay for Twitter Blue verification.
The White House Director of Digital Strategy, Rob Flaherty, reportedly told staff members, “It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide person-level verification as a service. Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user.”
“Twitter’s enterprise service, Verification for Organization, does appear to provide organization-association verification. There are ongoing trials for the program that we are monitoring, but we will not enrol in it. Staff may purchase Twitter Blue on their personal social media accounts using personal funds,” Flaherty wrote in the email.
The New York Times
According to Economic Times, The New York Times was the first big news organisation to declare that it would no longer be paying a monthly charge to have its verification badge.
“We aren’t planning to pay the monthly fee for checkmark status for our institutional Twitter accounts. We also will not reimburse reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts, except in rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” a New York Times spokesperson said.
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times would not be purchasing a Twitter Blue subscription, as per Gadgets Now.
In a staff internal memo, managing editor of the Los Angeles Times Sara Yasin stated that being verified “no longer establishes authority or credibility” and that Twitter was “not as reliable as it once was.”
Yasin said in the memo, ”We will not be paying to verify our organisation on Twitter either. It’s still unclear if there’s actual value in doing so, beyond identifying all of us as LA Times staffers.”
LeBron James
Le Bron Raymone James Sr., an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), scored a “slam dunk” on the notion of purchasing Blue tick.
“Welp guess my blue (tick) will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5,” he tweeted.
However, at the time of writing, his Blue tick remains on his handle.
Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen has recently declined to pay $ 8 a month for Twitter’s blue check verification badge.
John Legend’s wife took to Twitter and tweeted, “oh my god just take the checkmark already who cares.”
William Shatner
The 92-year-old Canadian actor whose career spans about seven decades has stated that he will not be footing the bill for the blue tick.
“Hey @elonmusk what’s this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter? I’ve been here for 15 years giving my (time) & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now you’re telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free? What is this-the Columbia Records & Tape Club?” he said.
Shatner also said that blue ticks were “guardrails for legitimacy; not meaningless status symbols.”
-Firstpost
