Chrissy Teigen, Dionne Warwick, and rapper Ice-T are among the many stars who refuse to shell out $8 a month for a blue check-check badge on Twitter.
24 hours before the social media site officially began charging for its once-free badge, several celebrities took to the platform to reveal that they had no intention of paying for a subscription.
That includes John Legend’s wife, 37, who hilariously tweeted: “Oh my God just take the check off who actually cares.”
I don’t pay for a blue check. That money can (and will) go toward my extra hot lattes, Warwick, 82, known for her witty Twitter pranks, mused.
In December, the music legend expressed his skepticism about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and its “real intention” during an interview with the people.
Meanwhile, LeBron James joked that it was too cheap to pay for the tick, which serves as a way to endorse one’s profile to the world.
“Welp my guess is my blue is going to be gone soon because if you knew me I wouldn’t pay the 5,” he told his 52.8 million followers on Thursday.
End of an era: Twitter will officially start removing blue ticks from users who don’t pay for them on April 1st
Ice T also gave his thoughts on the matter as he admitted that he doesn’t really understand why this checkmark is even “to some people”.
Twitter will officially start removing blue ticks from users who don’t pay for them on April 1.
These “old” check marks appear on accounts whose identity the owner verified before Musk took over the platform in October.
A few months later, the new CEO launched Twitter Blue – a subscription service that gives users the same stamp of verification in exchange for paying £11 a month in the UK and $11 in the US.
This was an attempt to do away with what he saw as “the lords and peasants system of those who have or do not have a blue check”.
While it’s unclear if this was an April Fools’ Day prank by Mr. Musk, who isn’t shy about joking, the announcement was made by the official verified Twitter account last night.
“On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing our legacy verified checkmarks,” she said.
Users were quick to respond to express their disappointment with the update, and there is exasperation that there will be yet another change coming to the platform.
One user said, “I feel bad for the people who are still on Twitter who have to push these updates.”
Hilarious: ‘Really taking the checkmark’ Teigen told Twitter
Not her first complaint: In December, the music legend expressed doubts about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and its “real intent” during an interview with People.
Practical: Meanwhile, LeBron James hilariously joked that he was too cheap to pay for ticks, which serves as a way to authenticate a person’s profile to the world
Not Worth It: Ice T has also expressed his thoughts on the matter stating that he admitted that he doesn’t really understand why this checkmark is ‘of interest to some people’
Others added “This is a horrible change” and “A big, idiotic early April joke”.
The ad also provides instructions on how users can sign up for Twitter Blue, or how companies can sign up for “Verified Organizations.”
This is another subscription service that will provide your enterprise account with a gold or gray verification badge for an impressive £950 per month.
Gold tick marks indicate verified business accounts, while gray tick marks indicate accounts that are a government or official organization.
Businesses can also pay an extra £50 per month to get an ‘affiliation badge’, which shows the Twitter profile photo of an associated brand, support, employee or team.
This system of colored checkmarks and badges launched in December, and while it caused widespread confusion, organizations with legacy checkmarks were not required to pay for a subscription service in order to retain them.
In fact, all accounts that had a blue tick under the previous system and were not registered with Twitter Blue have a message that appears if the tick is clicked.
It says the account is an “old verified account” and “may or may not be noticeable”.
Now, it looks like those tags will be phased out, as having a checkmark without paying for a subscription service won’t be an option from next month.
Twitter Blue currently costs £9.60 in the UK ($8) per month for web access, and £11 ($11 in the US) per month for use with Apple iOS.
This is believed to be a “hidden 30% tax” applied to in-app purchases within those hosted by Apple.
Subscribers are offered a host of features not available to regular account holders, including the ability to edit tweets after posting.
This has long been requested by many users, though there are others who argue that it increases the potential for misinformation to spread because a tweet can be altered after it is widely shared.
Twitter said Blue subscribers will also see fewer ads, their tweets will be amplified above others, and they’ll be able to post and view longer, better-quality videos.
Twitter says it will start removing blue ticks from users who don’t pay for it on April Fool’s Day. These “old” check marks appear on accounts whose identity the owner verified before Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform in October
While it’s unclear if this was a joke by Mr. Musk, who is not shy about the joke, it was announced by the official verified Twitter account last night.
Upon taking office, Musk told advertisers that he wanted Twitter to become a “digital city square” rather than a “free-for-all hell square, where anything can be said without consequence.”
As part of that, he wanted to remove bot accounts and restore freedom of expression and trust in the platform.
Prior to his system, Twitter would give a blue tick for free to verify and validate notable accounts.
In December, after much delay, Musk launched Twitter Blue — a subscription service that gives users a blue check mark for a monthly fee.
However, users were quick to take advantage of it, as aAccounts impersonating celebrities and corporations, including Mr. Musk himself, have flooded the platform.
One user tricked the other into thinking Former US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: “This is why Elon Musk’s plan didn’t work.”
This system of colored checkmarks and badges launched in December, and while it caused widespread confusion, organizations with legacy checkmarks were not required to pay for a subscription service in order to retain them.
Twitter Blue first rolled out in early November, but users were quick to take advantage of the ability to purchase a checkmark. The platform has been flooded with accounts impersonating celebrities and corporations, including Mr. Musk himself
Impersonate another account Former President George W. Bush – who appeared to be posting a hateful tweet about Iraq – and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
This forced the world’s second richest man to halt the verification process, but not before advertisers pulled out of their contracts.
Twitter Blue was relaunched the following month, with new systems for denoting different types of verified accounts, such as multicolored check marks.
Since then, other new features have been rolled out to subscribers such as the ability to post tweets up to 4,000 characters long.
In January, it was reported that at least two Taliban officials began paying for Twitter Blue to achieve verification.