Further evidence that Elon Musk's policy on Twitter verification may alter at will is the fact that over the weekend, a number of prominent users with sizable followings, including celebrities who have passed away, had their accounts re-verified without any explanation from the business.
The re-verification follows Twitter's sweeping removal of blue verification check marks from legacy users on April 20, which had an adverse effect on several celebrities and journalists without the badge, including Kim Kardashian and The Pope. On the same day, however, Musk said that he had personally paid for the certification of three users, including LeBron James, Stephen King, and William Shatner.
A source close to James that the NBA player had gotten an email from Twitter offering a free membership, but James had not replied to the email to accept the subscription.
By Sunday, it seemed that the platform had changed its mind and was attaching the blue check badge once again to the accounts of users who had previously been verified, but this time with a badge description indicating that they are subscribers to Twitter Blue. Celebs who are still alive, such as Kim Kardashian, James Gunn, and Lil Nas X, who now all have a blue check mark, as well as those who have passed away, have had their accounts impacted. That includes, among others, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Norm Macdonald, Chadwick Boseman, and Anthony Bourdain.
Some of Twitter's co-founders also got their verifications returned, although Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, was noticeably left out. Many people who did have their verification repeated weren't really happy with the adjustment. People who wish to purposely remove their verification badges may change their Twitter usernames, change them back, and the verification badge will be removed, according to users like Patton Oswalt and Chrissy Teigen.
A request for explanation went unanswered by Twitter, which has no official communications staff and auto-replies to all press emails with a poop emoji.
The re-verification follows Twitter's sweeping removal of blue verification check marks from legacy users on April 20, which had an adverse effect on several celebrities and journalists without the badge, including Kim Kardashian and The Pope. On the same day, however, Musk said that he had personally paid for the certification of three users, including LeBron James, Stephen King, and William Shatner.
A source close to James that the NBA player had gotten an email from Twitter offering a free membership, but James had not replied to the email to accept the subscription.
By Sunday, it seemed that the platform had changed its mind and was attaching the blue check badge once again to the accounts of users who had previously been verified, but this time with a badge description indicating that they are subscribers to Twitter Blue. Celebs who are still alive, such as Kim Kardashian, James Gunn, and Lil Nas X, who now all have a blue check mark, as well as those who have passed away, have had their accounts impacted. That includes, among others, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Norm Macdonald, Chadwick Boseman, and Anthony Bourdain.
Some of Twitter's co-founders also got their verifications returned, although Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, was noticeably left out. Many people who did have their verification repeated weren't really happy with the adjustment. People who wish to purposely remove their verification badges may change their Twitter usernames, change them back, and the verification badge will be removed, according to users like Patton Oswalt and Chrissy Teigen.
A request for explanation went unanswered by Twitter, which has no official communications staff and auto-replies to all press emails with a poop emoji.
