by James Haworth, 31 October 2022
Elon Musk finally took control of Twitter. Despite reports he is cutting the employee base by 75%, there must be engineers left as they have a task already.
First reported by The Verge, Elon has demanded engineers introduce paid verification or 'pack up and leave.' Currently, verification on the social site is decided by the platform. Instagram, Facebook and TikTok all operate a similar protocol, albeit it with no public definitive eligibility criteria.
Twitter introduced a detailed criteria with the re-introduction of an application form only last year. The criteria followed years of controversy about the badge. Most notably, being sued by Tony La Russa in 2009. A public avenue for requests wasn't available until 2017, where the program was discontinued in the same year.
Only 3 days following the acquisition, The Verge confirmed internal communications that Musk had tasked engineers with monetizing the verified badge. As part of the platforms Twitter Blue subscription service, it is understood anyone will be able to pay a monthly fee of $19.99 for the badge.
Prior to any changes, the company's requirements for verification help page stated 'Twitter does not sell the blue Verification badge. A Twitter employee will never request financial compensation in exchange for a badge or as part of the application process.'
A subscription based blue badge model will render the current criteria that determines who is notable enough to be eligible, simply useless. Musk went further with existing verified accounts, with reports saying any non-paid checkmarks will be removed in 90 days.
Even to non-verified users this is a significant change from any verification schemes in the past. I'm familiar with smaller sites that use paid verification as a means to support development of the site. Twitter will need to change its revenue model as advertisers leave the platform. Musk has publicly stated he wants recurring paid customers to make up half of the companies revenue.
Many are already pointing out the obvious implications of such a change. Twitter user @AstroKatie points out the verification badge is to 'combat disinformation, not be a status symbol'.
Elon himself, surely must realize the risk this poses? Also reported by The Verge, impersonators make a pretty penny off cloning his identity on Twitter.
Many will have been confused seeing verified accounts change their name to impersonation Elon Musk, and pose as promoting a cryptocurrency. Twitter has been swift to deal with fake accounts, and the number of impersonators using checkmarks to promote scams has been kept under wraps.
By allowing anyone to display a checkmark, scammers can impersonate anyone with levels more confidence at their fake profiles.
Following an already turbulent few days, the platform will be taking a big risk that undeniably will cause impersonation, untrust and financial fraud on a scale never seen, followed by untrust and financial fraud before if the planned change goes ahead. This will cause more disruption than the 2020 account hijack, where 130 verified accounts were hacked and use to promote a bitcoin scam.
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