Rubius was right. The Spanish streamer tried to warn Elon Musk about the dangers of paying to have the account verified. But the South African tycoon did not want to listen and remained closed in band that paying eight dollars was the right thing to do in the war against trolls and fake accounts.
But the new system had very obvious flaws that were soon exploited by users: the platform was flooded with relevant characters saying outrageous things. George Bush, Tony Blair, OJ Simpson, Joe Biden, Nintendo or Elon Musk himself, all of them with the verified badge next to them, were tweeting off script and creating a lot of confusion: were they for real or were they just trolls playing pose as celebrities? Indeed, they were only parody accounts.
Subscribing to Twitter Blue is no longer possible
After an avalanche of trolls imitating important accounts, everything seems to indicate that Twitter has paused the Twitter Blue service, with which you automatically get verified. Since last Friday, November 11, you can no longer subscribe to this premium service. This is the most convincing proof that Musk’s great idea is not working and that, moreover, it has the opposite effect: disinformation is given wings.
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The South African tycoon is not interested in Twitter being a jungle, since advertisers want a safe and healthy place to display their products. Since Twitter is not, they are leaving. And with them the money that Musk expected so that the accounts would balance. Twitter Blue, other measures to obtain benefits, does not seem to be the solution either as things are going on the platform.
With the chaos generated by Twitter pranksters, coupled with the resignation of at least six top officials, the South African tycoon has warned that Twitter’s bankruptcy is a real possibility. Given these statements, the regulators of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have already warned that they can take action.
In an attempt to calm the waters and reassure investors, Musk, who has been amused by some of the posts that have been seen on the platform recently, has not shaken his pulse by suspending several accounts that have been passed off as others. In this regard, in a Twitter Space called Elon Q & A: Advertising & the Future, he said that cheating would not be tolerated, but violators would be temporarily suspended, rather than banned for life.
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However, there are some prank accounts that Twitter does like. They are all those that clarify that they are parody, such as the famous account of the Coronavirus or that of Jesus. So that users do not have any doubt in these cases, Musk has informed that a subscript indicating Parody will be added.
To really know if an account belongs to a person because it really is him or is only an account that has paid eight dollars, and therefore may be posing as another – an intolerable behavior according to Twitter -, the verified badge must be checked .
In all those accounts that have decided to pay, a warning message will appear: “This account is verified because it is subscribed to Twitter Blue”. If the account is verified because it is relevant, another message will appear: “This account is verified because it is notoriety in the government, news, entertainment, or other designated category.”
