Staff Writer
As several users on Twitter reported on Thursday that they had lost their verified blue check marks, users said goodbye to a beloved aspect of the platform.
The company’s previous administration first gave out these badges to recognize prominent users and government agencies.
The system was supposed to be phased out on April 1 as Twitter had previously stated, but nothing happened until CEO Elon Musk announced a new expiration date of April 20.
Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Kim Kardashian as well as well-known TV hosts like Christiane Amanpour of CNN and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC have already lost their coveted blue checks as of early Thursday afternoon.
Bill Gates and Pope Francis, among many other well-known people, lost their certification status.
Ayanna Pressley, Brian Mast, and Ilhan Omar are examples of congressional lawmakers who lost verification on their personal accounts even while they still had the gray government check mark on their official accounts.
Some politicians, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, kept their blue checkmarks on their individual accounts, though.
Some customers reported perplexing bugs that caused their blue check marks to vanish, return, and then vanish once more on Thursday as the removal procedure was in progress. However, the majority of people who misplaced their verification badges appeared ready to say goodbye.
Twitter has changed the way it refers to verified accounts, now stating that they are “verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” However, the change has generated speculation among internet users, with some questioning if well-known figures paid money to obtain this desired status.
Confusion has resulted from this move, especially as some confirmed accounts from the past continue to display their checkmarks. As a result, a few well-known individuals, including author Stephen King, have claimed on Twitter that they did not buy the verification badge.
Many people are now wondering what the purpose of verified accounts is and how they are given after this disclosure. Twitter has not yet responded to the controversy, but it is obvious that interest in and rumors about the blue checkmark will continue to grow.
