In Lieu Of Verification, Twitter Will Provide An 'Official' Badge To Prominent Accounts

9 Nov, 2022

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Those seeking to impersonate Elon Musk on Twitter are in luck, as the social media platform will be providing verification badges to anyone who wants to pay $8 rather than providing check marks identifying public figures. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO himself discovered this firsthand, which is why Twitter will be providing an “official” badge rather than a blue check to distinguish verified users.

“It cannot be purchased and not all previously verified accounts will receive the ‘Official’ badge,” says Esther Crawford, a product manager at Twitter. “Government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers, and some public figures will be included.”

Twitter Blue’s new badge will denote what blue checks used to signify, and it should not be confusing for over 200 million creatures of habit who log on to the bird app every day. Crawford said, “The new Twitter Blue doesn’t have ID verification, it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that provides a blue checkmark and access to specific functions.”

A lot of folks have asked about how you'll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official" label to select accounts when we launch. pic.twitter.com/0p2Ae5nWpO
— Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022

We’ll continue to experiment with ways to distinguish between account types,” she said in a Twitter thread. It was seen in development last week by Nima Owji, a app researcher, as part of Twitter’s workforce’s last-minute rush.

#Twitter is working on another badge for the notable people. pic.twitter.com/VBVnEf5NuJ
— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) November 3, 2022

Twitter initially intended to release its new system, which allows anyone to purchase a blue checkmark, on Monday. However, it was postponed until after Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections in order to curb abuse. Verified users impersonating political figures or news outlets that falsely announce election results are reportedly limited in this move.

By creating an 'official' designation, Twitter will attempt to prevent deliberate misinformation from spreading, but educating over 200 million daily users about a new feature that fundamentally changes how they consume and identify news on a platform that they may have used for over a decade is a tall order.

Even though Twitter's 'core moderation capabilities remain in place' following the company's mass layoffs, Yoel Roth, the company's head of security and integrity, said, 'The 'official' blue checkmark is a clear and visible indicator that an account is authentic and genuine.'