Since taking over Twitter Elon Musk has had a long list of things to sort out about the platform. One of them is user verification, and he has announced a new system that uses multiple color icons will roll out next week.
Twitter, for many years, has been issuing a blue badge to identify the original account of prominent people or organizations. This is to prevent impersonation, which is rife on the platform.
However, when Musk took over the social media network, he quickly set out to overhaul it by linking the verification system to revenue generation.
Twitter rolled out a service allowing users to get the coveted blue badge by paying $8 per month. However, it quickly became apparent the system was open to abuse. This led to the service’s suspension as the company tried to figure out how to perfect the system.
The result is a new system assigning different colors to different users. Companies will be issued gold badges, while grey badges will differentiate government accounts.
Individuals will maintain the blue badge.
Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week.
Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.
Painful, but necessary.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022
Interestingly, Musk clarified that the blue badge is open to everybody, not just celebrities.
He also said all accounts would be manually verified instead of automatically getting it after paying a monthly subscription, without providing details of what exactly that verification process might entail.
Musk promised more detailed information would be coming next week, but he did add that deliberate impersonation would result in a ban.
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