There are thousands of Twitter accounts that lack a verified badge or Blue Tick, including accounts belonging to well-known celebrities like Virat Kohli, Shah Rukh Khan, Bill Gates, and others, here is why
Thousands of Twitter users found on Friday morning that their Blue Tick, a marking that once provided their account with some kind of authenticity, was missing.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, had declared that any accounts that do not pay for the Twitter Blue service will have Blue Tick removed on April 20.
That is to say, the corporation has decided that the Blue Tick is no longer an indicator to signify account legitimacy. Instead, it’s a flag that Twitter gives to users who agree to pay a monthly charge.
Why was the blue verification tick of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and other Indian cricketers removed from Twitter
Virat kohli without Blue tick😭 pic.twitter.com/QU96OEUITw
— Arun Singh (@ArunTuThikHoGya) April 20, 2023
#SRK's Twitter account without blue tick looks as useless as his acting 😂 pic.twitter.com/913mQo0HPv
— Ayush™ 🇮🇳🚩 (@vkkings007) April 21, 2023
The majority of journalists, politicians, and other well-known figures whose Twitter accounts were “verified” up to April 19 include Shah Rukh Khan, Virat Kohli, and those whose accounts no longer have the Blue Tick or any other distinguishing symbol.
Who will lose the blue tick?
All Twitter users who were verified under the old method and did not sign up for Twitter Blue by April 20 will effectively lose the Blue Tick from their profiles.
From non-subscribers and a select few users’ profiles, Twitter began removing the “verified” badges on April 1. One of the well-known accounts that had previously lost its Blue Tick, purportedly on Elon Musk’s orders, was the New York Times.
But most users, including public figures like journalists, athletes, politicians, and movie stars, have since lost their verification badges.
There are incredibly few Twitter accounts that still use the Blue Tick. LeBron James and author Stephen King use the most well-known of these accounts.
In the past, King and James each said they would never buy Blue Tick.
So what is going on? On his Twitter account, Elon Musk has acknowledged that he is funding Blue Tick. It’s unknown why the Twitter Boss is operating in this manner, but some have theorised that it’s a form of trolling since he wants users to think that James and King are paying for Twitter Blue despite having previously said they wouldn’t.
Why did Twitter remove Blue Tick?
The question now is, why? There are several factors, albeit it’s not clear which ones are the key ones and which are just benefits for Elon Musk.
Musk fired on the Blue Tick system before he bought Twitter. He said that the former Twitter administration verified accounts with an elite slant.
In addition, he asserted that Twitter users had been split into two groups by the Blue Tick system.
Therefore, Musk started promoting the Blue Tick as soon as he took control of Twitter. He asserted that anyone may now purchase the Blue Tick by making a monthly payment of just $8.
All is well thus far. But one issue that Musk and his fan base had with the Verified method was not fixed by the Blue Tick after a payment.
Three categories of users emerged as a result, as opposed to the previous two: those who received Blue Tick as a verification badge from the prior Twitter management, those who purchased Blue Tick from the new Twitter, and those who had none.
People soon began making fun of individuals who had paid for Twitter Blue and received a Blue Tick as part of a meme. Musk then requested a revision to the Blue Tick’s messaging to further complicate matters.
Twitter started showing users the following message in place of the information about who was paying for Blue Tick and who was given it as a verification badge at the beginning of April:
This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account.”
But now we understand that this was only a temporary situation. By restricting access to the Blue Tick to just paying customers, Twitter is one way it is aiming to improve its income. More over 4 lakh verified legacy users were active on Twitter.
Elon Musk thinks that by taking away their Blue Ticks, the majority of them will most likely become users who will pay around $8 (about Rs. 650–Rs. 900 in India) to retrieve their coveted Blue badge.
Who will get the Blue Tick?
According to Musk, the prior Twitter authentication process was “corrupt and nonsensical.” Therefore, the new approach is based on the payment of a monthly fee.
Musk previously re-released Twitter Blue on December 13, 2022, and requested that everyone pay $8 monthly and around Rs 900 in India to keep their verification credentials.
The reaction to the new paid Twitter Blue Tick rule
Because so many spam or fake accounts are gaining, or should we say “buying,” the badge, many users have complained that the paid verification badge has made it harder for users to recognise phoney accounts.
For instance, a large number of well-known personalities, including Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Virat Kohli, Selena Gomez, and Kim Kardashian, lost their blue ticks last night.
They continued to maintain fake profiles and fan sites on Twitter, complete with a Blue Tick, even after paying for a subscription.