Thursday, the second most shocking enthusiasm after HBO leftovers, Press Earth. Twitter has finally fulfilled CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly extended promise to remove the platform’s supposedly “old” verification checkmarks for those who don’t pay for its premium subscription service Twitter Blue.
Musk first teased the change shortly after October 2022. The social media giant was acquired. It announced that in the near future, paying for the pre-existing Twitter Blue will give users all the benefits of the service (like the ability to see fewer ads and post longer videos) and the brand’s coveted blue checkmark slap into their accounts. . Prior to that, checkmarks were reserved for organizations and users considered notable in the news media, government positions, or entertainment industries. According to Musk’s plan, users outside of Twitter’s usual assignments can have what Musk perceives as just a status symbol for just $8 a month.
The rollout of Twitter Blue-approved checkmarks has been discontinued several times over the past few months due to issues such as widespread impersonation. After Musk identified long-verified users’ checkmarks as “old checkmarks” approved It said it would remove unpaid blue checks and describe the way they were issued as “corrupt”.
This was followed by a delay of several more months, and last week it was confirmed that the big checkmark exit will happen on April 20. This news came just in time to spook all the stoners celebrating 4/20, as they watched the checkmarks disappear into a cloud. smoke
Now that checkmarks are being removed from all old accounts, previously verified celebrities – among others less notable people – have to pay Twitter Blue’s monthly fee to keep their badges. Naturally, this resulted in Twitter users clicking around to check which celebrities still had a badge, then using Twitter’s desktop website to get a message confirming that the check had cost them some money (and a phone number). The variation in checkmarks between superstar accounts with millions of followers has already become noticeable: Is there still a checkmark and they apparently paid Twitter money or not?
Almost immediately, a group of celebrities robbed their accounts along with the rest of the legacy holders. like musicians Lady Gaga, Adeland Jennifer Lopez apparently refused to hand out eight dollars during the broadcast. For a star like Gaga, who has spent her entire career as an outspoken advocate for queer rights, refusing to pay makes sense. Musk has spent his time on Twitter re-platforming transphobes and messing with right-wing talking heads. It’s no surprise that Gaga is reluctant to follow Musk.
Celebrities who continue to brag about blue next to their names and probably spend money on Twitter for that reason have been an unsurprising mix of some of the worst and most disgusting people you’ve ever heard of.
It’s not a shock Taylor Swift seems to have already paid For Twitter Blue, given its long-standing commitment to letting someone else control its narrative. Meanwhile, talk show hosts and advocates of yuppie false positives, namely Ellen DeGeneres And Jimmy Fallon, already coughed up a few dollars. Those two have never met a spine they love!
However, it’s surprising that someone likes Nicki Minaj apparently exists yet to jump on the bandwagon. You’d think that for someone who enjoys beefing up on Twitter this much, they’d want Barbz to see their spikes by placing their tweets at the top of their timeline with a blue checkmark. Equally mysterious is that the (often polished) Kardashian empire hangs today, with only Khloé Kardashian confirmed. Khloé’s sisters Kim and Kourtney Kardashian don’t have a blue check. And this is understandable. so, they good american jeans they won’t sell themselves – the migraine pill money doesn’t last forever!
Plenty of other celebrities, most of them singers and a handful of actors, are apparently already Twitter Blue subscribers. Shawn Mendes, Ryan Reynolds, Rihanna, Chris Hemsworth, Neil Patrick Harris, Miley CyrusAnd Weekend they all retained their checkmarks. Of course, eight dollars is nothing for these people. But what they say about how easily they can be influenced by a power-hungry svengali like Musk is even darker. Twitter is a place where celebrity fans maintain parasocial relationships with celebrities like this one, and it’s pretty discouraging that people like Cyrus or Harris would rather retain a tick than lose even the slightest political stance. Although these are celebrities; none of this is particularly surprising.
But the best thing about the blue check massacre so far was the celebrity’s reaction to losing theirs. The night before the checkmarks were rescheduled, Halle Berry tweeted a video of herself appearing on a talk show, “I’m joining you all tomorrow, unconfirmed.”
The always underestimated singer Ciara echoed the same sentiment when she lost the tick this afternoon. tweeting, “Blue check or no blue check… I know my fans are still checking.” Electropop artist Charli XCX reacted, saying“Officially no longer a verified artist. I like being official and unverified. This is very mine. And in a very typical, meme-heavy fashion, Lil Nas X tweeted a video Squidward Tentacles wants a spare coin. At the time of writing, all three of these brave souls have no check marks.
Despite flashy movies like Beau is scared And Evil Dead Ascension In theaters Friday, seeing which celebrities can get a checkmark added to their accounts will remain the weekend’s most gripping show – especially as the debate seems to be just getting started. There is a checkmark claiming that he is currently a subscriber to Twitter Blue, even though author Stephen King, who openly opposes Musk’s control over Twitter, says King has never signed up.
If there’s one thing that’s almost certainly true, it’s that Musk’s ex-girlfriend, Grimes, is probably a true Twitter Blue subscriber. After all, his latest tweet includes a photo of a SpaceX rocket and the caption, “Starships will take us to other worlds.” While they disagree on Twitter verification, Grimes and Nicki Minaj can agree on one thing: Starships are for flying.