Twitter Blue

Celebrity Meltdown

Twitter Blue is running full-steam ahead, with Elon Musk quickly changing the landscape of the platform. This will undoubtedly get more people (who would normally not have a large voice) heard by people who would normally not see their comments— which can be a good thing. But, it can also be a bad thing,. obviously. This new form of “verification” has given new life to internet trolls of all types, which is honestly making Twitter a lot more fun.

Before the new verification rollout for $8/month, the people with the much sought after “blue check” were becoming increasingly full of s***. The smugness was, and in many ways still is, off the charts. The blue check meant that you were better than those with no checks, at least in the minds of those who had the checks. This would result in “priority mentions” where you can separate your notifications by what you deemed important, or who had their check.

Many people who gained a blue check, immediately began to think of themselves as “celebrities”. Sometimes they were right, but other times they bought and paid for the verified check (with some reports of people spending $15k for theirs). Other people were gifted their check for knowing the right people, and not necessarily for being noteworthy. But nevertheless, the playing field has now met the great “leveler” as Elon Musk has put it.

So for ordinary accounts who have a few hundred, or even a few thousand followers with a lot to say, can benefit greatly from this change— and sure trolls too. But the celebrities of Twitter, not so much. So far, it's been full-on panic from most people who were previously verified before the change. There was a hierarchy for many years at Twitter, and for those who made it to the top of that pecking order feel their Twitter lives are being threatened.

Most verified users enjoyed the luxury of the priority mentions, which only shows that user what other verified people have to say. This takes away any “peasants” being mixed in with the “important” people. But apparently that is all changing.

So now what happens when big name celebrities throw public temper tantrums, all in the name of Twitter verification? Will this new era of Twitter be here to stay, or will a new “badge” be applied that can help the celebrities remain in their elite conversations w/o regular Joes showing up in their mentions? Either way, watching this play out is kind of fun.