Many powerful users were caught off guard by the change.
Last night, a number of well-known journalists and other individuals wrote (and, in many cases, grumbled) about the sudden recovery of their verified blue checks on Elon Musk’s X platform. There was a note from X that was shared by one of them, Peter Kafka, which demonstrated that the upgrade was not a mistake.
“As an influential member of the community on X, we’ve given you a complimentary subscription to X Premium subject to X Premium Terms by selecting this notice,” according to the announcement.
An explanation was provided by X in a following tweet, which stated that accounts that have more than 2,500 verified subscribers (that is, paid Premium or Premium+ blue tick subscribers) are eligible for free Premium features, and accounts that have more than 5,000 subscribers are eligible for the ad-free Premium+ tier, which is also free.
based on all the confused tweets i’m seeing, it looks like Twitter / X is starting to really ramp up the roll out of this now
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) April 3, 2024
if you suddenly have a blue checkmark even though you’re not paying for one, this is why: pic.twitter.com/T1XaBEeGgn
Up until this point, the only users who were eligible to receive free Premium blue checks were those who had a big number of followers (at least one million), as well as celebrities and corporations or media companies. It would appear that the new step is an attempt to draw influential users who have less followers (journalists, in particular) into the fold.
Where did this come from, then? It’s possible that X has come to the conclusion that it requires more journalists who have blue checks. As a result of recent occurrences (such as the earthquake in Taiwan, the elections in Turkey, and the collapse of the bridge in Baltimore), a number of users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that X is no longer the gold standard breaking news tool that Twitter used to be.
This is probably due to the fact that journalists, who are responsible for discovering or amplifying such news, have seen their importance decrease while X’s algorithms have been amplifying blue check material and replies. Instead of an experienced journalist who is able to provide information that is both useful and truthful, this means that marketers of shitcoins or people who know nothing about the cryptocurrency will appear at the top of the replies to the question.
The blue check is now considered a mark of shame in many situations, and as a result, a significant proportion of users who have regained their blue check are not always pleased with the situation. “What the hell, I’ve been bluechecked against my will. On Twitter, @emptywheel asked, “How do I opt out?” Katie Notopoulos tweeted, “Oh no,” in concern. “I am become bluecheck, promoter of shibacoin.”