Twitter verification

Blue eight-lobed badge with checkmark icon
"Blue checkmark" Twitter verification badge, used by X Premium subscribers
Gold-colored eight-lobed badge with checkmark icon
Gold badge used for Verified Organizations subscribers
Gray eight-lobed badge with checkmark icon
Gray badge used for government accounts

Verification on X, formerly known as Twitter, is a system intended to communicate the authenticity of an X account.[1] Since November 2022, Twitter users whose accounts are at least 90 days old and have a verified phone number receive verification upon subscribing to X Premium or Verified Organizations; this status persists as long as the subscription remains active.[2]

When introduced in June 2009, the system provided the site's readers with a means to distinguish genuine notable account holders, such as celebrities and organizations, from impostors or parodies.[3][4] Until November 2022, a blue checkmark[5] displayed against an account name indicated that Twitter had taken steps to ensure that the account was actually owned by the person or organization whom it claimed to represent.[6][7] The checkmark does not imply endorsement from Twitter, and does not mean that tweets from a verified account are necessarily accurate or truthful in any way.[8] People with verified accounts on Twitter are often colloquially referred to as "blue checks" on social media and by reporters.[9]

In November 2022, the verification program was modified heavily by new owner Elon Musk, extending verification to any account with a verified phone number and an active subscription to an eligible X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) plan. These changes faced criticism from users and the media, who believed that the changes would ease impersonation, and allow accounts spreading misleading information to feign credibility. In a related change, Twitter introduced additional gold and gray checkmarks, used by Verified Organizations and government-affiliated accounts, respectively.[10] Twitter claims that the changes to verification are required to "reduce fraudulent accounts and bots".[1]

Twitter users who had been verified through the previous system were known as "legacy verified" accounts;[11] legacy verification was deprecated in April 2023, and stripped from accounts who do not meet the new payment requirements. Musk later implied that he had been personally paying for the X Premium subscriptions of several notable celebrities.[12][13]

  1. ^ a b Sawers, Paul (April 21, 2023). "Twitter seemingly now requires all advertisers to have a verified checkmark". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Staff, PCMag (June 12, 2009). "Phew! Twitter Verifies Celebrity Tweets as Authentic". PCMag. AppScout. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Cashmore, Pete (June 11, 2009). "Twitter Launches Verified Accounts". Mashable. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2021. It'll also solve the entrenched problem of celebrity impersonations, which are confusing for users and unwelcome by those being impersonated.
  5. ^ "How to get verified on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Manfredi, Lucas (July 15, 2020). "Twitter's Blue Checkmark explained". Fox Business. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  7. ^ Kanalley, Craig (March 12, 2013). "Why Twitter Verifies Users". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  8. ^ Welch, Chris (July 17, 2018). "Twitter says it doesn't 'have the bandwidth' to fix verification right now". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  9. ^ Bishop, Rollin (March 30, 2017). "'Verified' is now a derogatory term on Twitter". The Outline. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  10. ^ "Twitter Blue is back. And gold checkmarks are here!". blog.twitter.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Bellan, Rebecca (December 12, 2022). "Elon says X will remove all legacy verifications 'in a few months'". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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