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Twitter’s recent overhaul, helmed by Elon Musk, has brought about several changes to the platform, but none as problematic as the updates to the verification system.
What’s The Deal With Checkmarks
The platform now essentially allows anyone to purchase a blue checkmark, giving the illusion of legitimacy, which has become a playground for scammers and spammers. Twitter’s solution is to suspend such accounts once detected, while also hinted at new measures for confirming user identities in the Twitter Blue sign-up process.
However, there is no real checking process in place, with the platform relying on “payment verification”. The idea is that bot accounts won’t be able to pay for the subscription, thus, won’t be able to sign up for Twitter Blue, or it’ll be increasingly expensive for them to do so.
Unfortunately, this hasn’t proven to be a real deterrent. In recent months, various Twitter Blue-subscribed profiles were identified as using AI-generated profile images, yet were approved for the program.
Some of these accounts push specific political agendas, while others spread false information. This has opened the door for potential manipulation and deception within the new Twitter checkmark process.
Boxes Aren’t Being Ticked
Despite Twitter’s pledge to add a manual checking process for all Twitter Blue applicants, this hasn’t happened. The blue checkmark adds a level of legitimacy to accounts in-stream, which is the whole lure of the offering.
For a monthly fee of $8, users can be viewed on the same level as celebrities and stars, solidifying their presence and status on the platform. However, without proper checks in place, it remains problematic. Twitter is trying to counter impersonation problems by adding new badges and variations, but it’s becoming increasingly cluttered and confusing.
The company is also expanding these badges to all approved staff of approved companies within the app, which includes a new description panel to explain why the user has a blue checkmark.
They’re also working on a new indicator to show when a profile has confirmed its ID through their system.
This should be a requirement for approval for a blue tick, and it’s hard to see how this is a better system than the previous process, where there was a clearer understanding of what a blue tick meant.
Despite the controversies, around 300,000 Twitter users have signed up for the new Twitter Blue, generating $2.4 million per month for the company, or $7.2 million per quarter.
However, this only equates to 0.12% of Twitter’s user base, and Elon and his team still have a long way to go in convincing people to pay $8 a month to use the app.
So What’s To Come?
The updated Twitter verification system is still a mess, and it’s not likely to generate enough revenue to justify the extra work required to add proper checks and maintenance.
However, Twitter is pushing ahead, and it’s hard to see Elon backtracking on the system now.
Here’s what he tweeted recently:
Blue check will be the great leveler — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
With more incentives and actual human checking in the verification process, it could still become a relevant and important consideration.
But for now, it remains far from perfect.
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