For the longest time, Twitter’s verified checkmark has been used by businesses and individuals to show that they are who they claim to be. The process of acquiring this checkmark has been hideous but some people who qualify tend to get rejected. Getting the verification badge has been free and this has made the verification process a gamble for anyone trying to get the blue checkmark. There are questionable Twitter accounts with the verification badge which makes the entire thing even more confusing.
With Twitter now under Elon Musk, he may change things a bit going forward.
Twitter currently makes most of its money through ads. The company hasn’t been that successful with this as it still struggles to attract enough revenue to be profitable. Many say just relying on advertising is not very sustainable.
Besides advertising, Twitter launched a premium subscription service which was seen as the avenue that would make the company profitable and sustain its growth and operations. With Elon at the helm, this service might get revamped to bring in extra income. This subscription service has a number of additional features other Twitter users do not have access to.
It is being reported that the subscription service will soon be a requirement for verified users. This makes some sense to be honest but at the same time might end up locking out some accounts that may not be able to pay for this. Twitter verification has helped combat the spread of misinformation in some cases and the changes being floated might affect this if implemented. Even though the big organizations can pay for this, what about the local journalists, politicians, activists and individuals who rely on the platform. What are the chances of them being impersonated?
Another question is, what if someone decides not to pay, will they lose the badge immediately and can they get it back? There are so many questions so far and until we get some sort of clarification from Twitter, we really don’t have a clue as to what will happen.
In my opinion, Twitter should charge businesses that need the verification badge but have a special category for activists, journalists etc to get the badge without paying.
Read: How To Easily Get Verified On Twitter in Kenya
