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Twitter has been in uproar ever since many verified accounts lost their legacy blue tick. On April 20, the micro-blogging platform started unchecking thousands upon thousands of legacy verified accounts - i.e. accounts deemed by the company as “active, notable, and authentic,” before Elon Musk took over. Now, the only way to get a blue tick mark is by paying a fee of $8 dollars every month.
Elon Musk introduced the paid blue tick verification system in April 2023, after taking over Twitter in October 2022. The system initially failed and had a lot of backlash due to people seeing this as a cash-grab opportunity by one of the wealthiest men in the world. People started trashing the system by paying for the blue tick and parodying famous people, making it difficult to understand who was who.
Since then, the system has gone through development and installed additional safeguards. However, losing so many legacy accounts to this subscription rule was not popular, to begin with, and has dented the crowd’s favor. Elon Musk is now being memed mercilessly across his own platform.
Many notable personalities like BLACKPINK stars Kim Kardashian, former POTUS Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, JK Rowling, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Harry Styles, and Robert Downey Jr. have now lost the blue tick from their profiles. Meanwhile, accounts of Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Miley Cyrus, and Tim Cook appear to have retained a blue tick via subscriptions.
In some cases, this appeared to be wrong, as Stephen King tweeted:
"My Twitter account says I've subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven't. My Twitter account says I've given a phone number. I haven't."
Later, Elon Musk jokingly said, “You're welcome namaste” and it was found that he is paying for the subscription of a few select celebrities like Star Trek star William Shatner, LeBron James, and King.
Only time will tell what this move holds for Twitter, but so far, the wind is not favorable for Musk.
Some of Twitter's top celebs and well-known faces recently lost their legacy verification
1) BLACKPINK
Many K-Pop groups, including BTS, lost their legacy blue tick marks on Twitter after the new update. Groups like BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, TWICE, Aespa, SHINee, ASTRO, and GOT7 are also not verified on Twitter now.
BLACKPINK is a majorly popular K-Pop girl group with huge influence and are sometimes referred to as the "biggest girl group in the world." They recently even performed at Coachella, so their popularity is currently at an all-time high. The members of the band include Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa.
They have many awards and accolades in their bag, including two MTV Video Music Awards, one MTV Europe Music Award, three People's Choice Awards, one Teen Choice Award, and 11 Guinness World Records. Losing their verification badge to a subscription is truly unfortunate, and it is unknown when they will get their Twitter verification back.
2) Kim Kardashian
The American socialite and business mogul lost her verification mark in the wake of Twitter’s new rules. This comes as a surprise as Kim Kardashian was not only spotted speaking cordially with Elon at the MET gala, but it was even rumored that Kardashian had her eyes set on Elon Musk after her breakup with Pete Davidson.
Kim Kardashian first caught the attention of the media as the stylist of Paris Hilton. Since then, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has come a long way, building an empire with her flagship company Skims.
She is very active across all social media platforms, and her loss of verification comes as a shock to many.
3) Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez has been very candid about Elon Musk's Twitter takeover and was never shy about expressing her opinion. During a recent conversation with Vanity Fair, she straight up said that she finds the policies taken by Elon “irresponsible and unsafe”:
“It’s dangerous. I don’t think I need to say anything because he’s getting [the feedback] that I feel. I don’t care about him, but about the [direction] of Twitter…It’s not my favorite app, for sure. I don’t know if it was [about feeling] cool that you own something. I just find it irresponsible and unsafe. ”
Selena Gomez started out with Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, but then took a detour from acting to pursue singing. Since then, this pop star has dabbled in being a producer, actor, and singer, balancing everything admirably. She has a Golden Globe Award nomination and a Primetime Emmy Award, alongside two Grammy Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards nominations.
It is truly unfortunate for many to see Gomez lose her Twitter verification mark.
4) Lady Gaga
Elon Musk seems to be a fan of Lady Gaga’s music, as he shared a meme about Lady Gaga’s fanbase in 2021. However, amidst the verification loss, Lady Gaga’s account also got caught in the fire.
This American pop star is extremely popular among social media users. She is lovingly dubbed by her fans as the Queen of Social Media, with over 84 million Twitter followers.
Gaga, since her debut, has won 13 Grammy Awards and has also taken up acting as an important focus area in her career. She stole the show in A Star is Born, and House of Gucci, and is now currently set to appear as Harley Quinn in Joker 2. Since the uproar, Gaga has made no comment on the verification fiasco. However, the future is still unpredictable.
5) Christiano Ronaldo
This is not the first time Elon Musk has made headlines with Christiano Ronaldo. In August 2022, Elon Musk made Twitter users go mad by saying he was planning to buy Manchester United. However, he later revealed that it was all an elaborate joke and that he had no plans to buy a sports team.
Christiano Ronaldo has been helmed by many fans as one of the greatest footballers of all time, with 32 trophies in his bag throughout his career. He has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Shoes. He is also one of the most popular players of all time and has a huge social media following. His verification being gone truly comes as a shock to many.
6) Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential people of the decade. Best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, she has had considerable success throughout her career. She was once dubbed by many the as the Queen of All Media and was the wealthiest African American woman at a certain point in time.
Although she has been criticized many times for promoting a celebrity confession culture on her show that inherently profits from the misery of others, asking and pestering guests with controversial questions, and promoting self-help ideas that can be deemed harmful by many, she has no doubt been immensely influential across generations. So, her Twitter legacy tick mark getting revoked seems like a big move.
So far, most of the audience has been taking the fiasco jokingly, making memes, and sharing funny jokes around it. However, many are criticizing Musk for making such changes to Twitter that are driving people away from the platform to Instagram and TikTok. We are yet to see what is there in the future of this micro-blogging platform.
