Elon Musk's '4/20 deadline' arrives. Has Twitter removed legacy blue ticks?
Only individuals and organisations that pay for the premium ‘Twitter Blue’ subscription will be able to retain the ‘verified’ credential on their profiles.
Twitter will kickstart its crackdown on legacy blue ticks on Thursday, the company announced on the microblogging platform. Only individuals and organisations that pay for the premium ‘Twitter Blue’ subscription will be able to retain the ‘verified’ credential on their profiles.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on April 11 tweeted that users will lose the legacy blue check marks from April 20. He wrote, “Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20.”Many saw the date as a pun around cannabis, as the number 420 is associated with marijuana smokers.
Prior to this, Musk had announced that the legacy verification badges will be removed from April 1.
The New York Times no longer has the verified mark after Twitter refused to restore it following the media company’s rejection of the paid blue tick.
While earlier the Twitter Verified handle on the microblogging platform followed all verified accounts, it unfollowed all accounts this month, hinting at the overhaul of the original blue tick system. However, it seems like the legacy blue ticks have remained unchanged for majority of the accounts as of Thursday.
Read | Twitter announces ‘Subscriptions’: All you need to know
Twitter Blue is priced differently for every region and according to the device. In the United States, it costs $11 a month or $114.99 a year for iOS or Android users and $8 a month or $84 a year for web users. In India, the price for Twitter Blue is ₹900 for iOS monthly, web monthly is ₹650 while yearly rate for iOS is ₹9400. For Android users, monthly rate is ₹900 while yearly cost is ₹9,400.
Musk is pushing for paid verification to pump in revenue for the cash-strapped company. Businesses and organisations have to fork out $1,000 ( ₹ 82,300) per month for verification badges.
According to the information shared on the microblogging site, a gold checkmark and square avatar will be given to business or non-profit companies that buy a subscription to Verified Organizations, while a grey checkmark and circular avatar is reserved for government organizations.
