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Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, news stories about the company or Musk keep coming up. This time, "rat verified" is what everyone is talking about. If you use the platform often, you may have seen both the hashtag and the rat symbol in front of people's names.
So, if you're wondering what's going on, it all started when the company's new owner, Musk, announced that verification on the platform would now cost $8 per month.
Being "rat verified" quickly became a social media trend after a Twitter user named Alex came up with an idea for people who want to be verified on Twitter but don't want to pay the $8 per month fee.
Alex tweeted:
#RatVerified trends on number 1 in USA as Musk demands $8 per month to get verified on Twitter
Musk had proposed a $20 monthly fee for the blue tick, which was later reduced to $8. The fee covered many benefits, like fewer ads, longer clips, and a lot more. Even though the billionaire made these changes to "reward content creators," they have gotten a lot of negative feedback since they were announced.
This spawned a new Twitter movement and hashtag, #RatVerified. When Alex, the person behind the idea, tweeted about being Rat Verified, the tweet went viral and became the number one trend in the United States on Wednesday, November 2, 2022. Alex also made a followup tweet stating how the hashtag was trending on the United States trend list. He said:
“Numba one baybee. This is perhaps my stupidest contribution to twitter but regardless everyone should become #RatVerified and ignore whatever stupidity Elon throws your way. Do not pay for this website!!!”
Alex's tweet had a screenshot that showed that over 7500 other tweets with the same hashtag. At the same time, other users started adding rat emojis to their names to join the movement. Additionally, users expressed their displeasure with Musk's new regulations on the platform. One such tweet read:
“I decided to become #RatVerified and now I’m $8 a month better off.”
Meanwhile, individuals are leveraging this trend not just to protest the verification fees, but also to post some really cute images of rats and mice on social media. At the same time, Musk appeared to be aware of the backlash, as he acknowledged the complaints and stated:
“To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8.”
The billionaire's agenda does not end with charging customers for verification as he is also thinking about making all direct messages paid and getting rid of all inactive accounts and handles for good.
