Yesterday, Twitter Charged old verified to limit the blue badge to those who subscribed to Twitter Blue. But what is truly curious is that Elon Musk has decided to pay so that a handful of celebrities do not lose verification. Such are the cases of LeBron James, William Shatner and Stephen King.
The choice of the “privileged” who today maintain their status as verified is not accidental. Both the NBA star and the actor from star trek and the renowned writer, were among the main critics when it was announced that Twitter would charge for maintaining the blue tick on accounts verified with the previous system.
In fact, all three of them mentioned on several occasions that they wouldn’t pay the $8 a month for Twitter Blue. Not because they couldn’t do it, but because the idea seemed ridiculous to them. A situation that even caused public crosses with Elon Musk.
Many will remember that Elon Musk’s original idea was to charge $20 a month for Twitter verification. Nevertheless, lowered the price in response to a complaint tweeted by Stephen King. “$20 a month to keep my blue badge? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that’s instituted, I’ll disappear like Enron,” the writer posted in late October 2022. The mogul’s response was not made wait: “We’ve got to pay the bills somehow! Twitter can’t rely solely on advertisers. How about $8?”
In March, meanwhile, the claims of William Shatner and LeBron James arrived. “I’ve been here for 15 years giving my time and clever thoughts all for nothing. Now you’re telling me I have to pay for something you gave me for free?” the actor posted. To which Elon Musk replied that he believed that the issue actually came from treating “everyone equally.”
While the Los Angeles Lakers basketball player also acknowledged that he would not pay for Twitter Blue. “Well it looks like my blue badge will be gone soon because they know I won’t pay the 5,” he tweeted, as a reference to an episode of Martinthe sitcom from the 1990s by Martin Lawrence.
Despite the complaints, both LeBron and Stephen King and William Shatner maintain their verified mark and appear as Twitter Blue subscribers. Because? Because Elon Musk has decided to pay for them.
Why Elon Musk is paying so that some celebrities do not lose the verified on Twitter
Elon Musk confirmed who decided to “pay personally” for some subscriptions to Twitter Blue, although later clarified which only did so for the cases of Shatner, King and James. The tycoon did not provide details about why he did it and, in fact, it seems that some of those involved they were not even informed of this situation.
Stephen King, for example, tweeted yesterday: “My twitter account says I signed up for Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.” To which Musk replied: “You’re welcome. Namaste.”
In the case of LeBron James, The Verge confirmed that a Twitter employee recently contacted him via email to inform him that the company intended to “extend you a free subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”
Like everything that happens with the CEO of Twitter, you should not look for explanations that are too deep for him. It is likely that the tycoon has tried to smooth things over with celebrities. Or maybe he’s just a trollingwanting to show that, after all, paying to maintain verification was not a big deal or a reason for so many complaints.
However, the situation is still ironic. Elon Musk’s big complaint against Twitter’s old verification system was that he considered it too arbitrary. And now it is the businessman himself who is giving the verifications arbitrarily. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The reactions for the goodbye to the old verified
When the removal of the blue badges from the old verified ones was made official, Twitter was flooded with complaints and laments against Elon Musk from those affected. Although there was also a lot of criticism towards those who were “exposed” for paying for the service. However, several – on one side and the other – chose to take it with humor.
“I am a fake account,” he tweeted. Ibaiwho is no longer listed as verified.
“No blue accent. I still feel like myself,” said the actor Ben Stiller.
Joanna Sternrenowned journalist from The Wall Street Journal, posted: “Today is the day. The day you guys find out I pay for Twitter Blue. Please don’t hate me.” Although later she acknowledged that she subscribed from day one.
the youtuber Marques Brownlee he opted for a meme to illustrate his situation, since he is also a Twitter Blue subscriber. “I understand that now I will be judged by the blue badge, but I have to accept it because I still need the edit button (of tweets),” he said.
Like it or not, Elon Musk’s plan with Twitter Blue and its chaotic verification has taken a crucial step. We’ll see what other changes the tycoon has in mind.