A series of popular Twitter accounts are receiving premium subscriptions from the service formerly known as Twitter Blue, along with the iconic blue verification badge from the social network.
The social network seems to be introducing a change that Musk announced on March 27th: “From now on, all X accounts with more than 2,500 subscribers will get free Premium and accounts with more than 5,000 will get free Premium+.”
The maneuver comes a year after Musk removed the verification badges assigned before his arrival at the company, reserving instead the famous “blue checks” and a set of “premium” features for paying subscribers, and turning the verification process into a kind of “pay to win”. After this move, the billionaire went on to verify “out of his own pocket” celebrities and influencers, even people who had died.
But not everyone who regained their blue checkmark on Wednesday was exactly happy. Some users rushed to clarify that they had not sought the verification, so that their followers would not think they had become supporters of Musk or X, as Twitter is now officially known. “What about the random blue checkmark that I didn’t ask for or pay for?” asked Katie Phang, host of the MSNBC television channel.
The lawyer and political commentator Elie Mystal also expressed his discontent: “Just to be clear, even though Elon has imposed the mark of the beast on me without consent or permission, I will continue to mock the people who paid for the blue checks.”
When Musk first announced the change, it was not clear whether he was referring to accounts with more than 2,500 subscribers or to accounts with at least 2,500 paying followers for the Premium service. Judging by the affected accounts on Wednesday afternoon, it seems to be the latter.
