Elon Musk’s Twitter Verification Changes: Parody will get you banned after Musk trolled
Last Updated on: 7th November 2022, 01:14 am
Ever since Elon Musk finally took over Twitter after a $44 billion purchase, the world’s eyes have been on the Tesla owner to see what he will do first on the platform.
Many have speculated that the likes of former US President Donald Trump will be unbanned and allowed to own an account on the platform.
But Elon’s first order of business is to fix the issue with bots, which will be overhauling the verification process, which has left many users angered and confused.
LATEST NEWS: Musk will ban you for trolling him
Recently, Elon Musk has been subjected to many verified Twitter accounts impersonating him to troll his new verification plans to show how stupid and not thought out it is.
After ignoring his critics over the last week or so, this is what finally got him to respond with plans to punish anyone that impersonates him or another public figure.
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended”
This will also extend to simply changing our display name, which will cause you to temporarily lose your verification checkmark.
One common thing that Twitter users do is change their names on special occasions such as Halloween and Christmas, often with creative puns based on those events.
It looks like this will no longer be possible without risking losing your verification checkmark. Musk has stated that it is only temporary, but it is possible you could lose it permanently, so is it worth risking?
“Any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark”
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Changes coming to Twitter verification
In an effort to combat bots and spam on Twitter, its new owner Elon Musk has vowed to overhaul the verification process to allow users to determine who is a human and who is likely a bot account.
So far, many users have been left confused by this new system. On paper, it appears that any user will be able to receive the verification checkmark, previously reserved for “notable people” in select industries such as media and politics.
There are rumors that Elon Musk has given his team until November 7th to finalize and roll out this new system, so we can expect an update from the social media platform soon with the full details.
For now, we have to rely on the snippets of information that Elon Musk keeps releasing in tweets.
Is this change a good idea?
The new proposed changes to Twitter verification have left a lot of users confused and many existing verified users disappointed.
I believe the concept makes sense, but the execution is flawed. Twitter does have a large issue with bots, scams, and spam that need to be urgently addressed, and this is something Elon Musk is committed to doing.
But I don’t necessarily think offering every user the possibility of having a verified checkmark is the answer.
The purpose of a checkmark is to show who is a “notable person”, such as a celebrity, musician, journalist, politician, etc.
By giving anyone who wants to pay a checkmark is will make it more difficult to determine who are the trusted sources in their fields.
Elon Musk has proposed a tag under the profile to show that a person is a notable person, but this just creates an extra step that users have to take to click on the profile and verify that they are interacting with the correct person.
It would make more sense to put the tag on the profiles of Twitter Blue subscribers to indicate they have authenticated themselves as human and not a bot.
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Stephen King could lose his verification checkmark
Many celebrities and verified Twitter users have publicly expressed their disappointment in these new changes and that their badge isn’t something they see enough value in to pay for.
One of these is The Shining author Stephen King, who stated, “$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.”
Elon Musk then responded with the offer of $8 a month, which was the first public reveal of the new pricing.
It will cost $8, not $20
Recently, there have been many reports across the world media claiming that the new Twitter Blue and verification checkmark will cost users $20 a month.
Elon Musk has now confirmed that the price will be $8, although it is likely that Musk was once considering a higher price tag before realizing many users wouldn’t pay for the service.
Verified vs. Twitter Blue
This week’s big discussion and debate on social media has been regarding verified accounts on Twitter and the overhaul they are set to receive now that Elon Musk owns the company.
As it stands, verified accounts are owned by people or organizations of note, such as brands, journalists, celebrities, influencers, and politicians.
Elon Musk is proposing that the verification badge will become part of its Twitter Blue subscription service, meaning that anyone that pays the monthly fee will be able to receive one, which could blur the lines between who is a regular user and who works in a notable industry.
Elon Musk has proposed some changes to combat this, including a tag that is displayed on the profile detailing the user’s profession.
You can check out an example in the image below.
While this could potentially work, it does require another step by the user to self-authenticate whether this is the real person or an impersonator.
While we think Elon Musk is on the right track, it is still a flawed system and could be improved upon.
What is Twitter Blue?
Twitter Blue is a premium subscription model for $4.99 a month and is currently available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Users will receive numerous benefits for being a subscriber that will improve their Twitter experience.
With Elon Musk overhauling Twitter Blue and the verification process, many new features will be included in the subscription once the new version goes live.
Why should I subscribe to Twitter Blue?
As of right now, being a Twitter Blue subscriber for $4.99 a month gives you access to a variety of different features to make it worthwhile to members.
The most popular feature is the Undo Tweet feature, which gives users 30 seconds in order to edit a tweet once it has gone live, which can be very handy when you discover a typo after posting.
Currently, the only way to correct a typo, if it is something that bothers you, is by deleting the tweet and rewriting it.
Other features include:
- Themes for iOS
- Bookmark Folders
- Custom App Icons
- Top Articles
- Custom Navigation
In addition to these existing features, Elon Musk will be rolling out a number of new features to make the subscription worth the price increase and the verification checkmark.
These new features will include the following:
- Fewer ads on Twitter
- Priority visibility in replies, mentions, and searches, meaning you will receive more impressions on your content
- The ability to post longer videos, something that could be very handy for content creators
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There will also be new monetization methods for content creators, including the possibility of Vine being revived to be a competitor to TikTok, Facebook/Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
