“FYI, I ain’t paying sh*t for something we helped build”
– says Akon about Twitter’s new Twitter Blue subscription.
By now, many Twitter users and users of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are aware that Twitter now has Twitter users paying for verification also known as verification badge. Unsurprisingly, Instagram and Facebook have jumped on the bandwagon by implementing a similar strategy. Both Instagram and Facebook are owned by Meta.
Moving forward, at least in the US, from March 2023, Instagram users you have to subscribe to get verified by Instagram and anyone can tell who is paying for their badge on Instagram as it shows the month when they got verified. Anyone who was verified from March 2023 onwards most likely paid for it, with the exception of those people who applied prior to the “pay for verification” rollout and who got approved in March by Instagram. Other than that, one thing for sure is that anyone who got verified in April 2023 and after IS paying for verification.
Back to Twitter, Elon Musk plans to implement paid verifications even to legacy users who were previously verified, including celebrities. This is why Akon Tweeted that he will not be paying for a platform that he and many other celebrities helped grow by using the platform during the early days of Twitter, which attracted many others when they saw celebrities using it.
The popular New York Times main Twitter account, which was verified said they will not pay for Twitter’s verified check mark badge and guess what? Musk gave orders to have Twitter “UNVERIFY” them. Their official account does not have the Twitter Blue as their verified badge has been removed in an effort to crack down on those who do not pay for the verified badge.
New York Times seemingly unbothered by this has been posting as if nothing has happened and has not acknowledged the badge removal in anyway. Does the New York Times care that they have been stripped off their verified badge? I really don’t think so, as they are making millions of money from their own online platform which requires that you pay monthly to have unlimited access to content.
This is why they do not have a verification badge next to their name as Mr. CEO was not playing with them and did he spare our African brother Akon who also said he will not pay, and who still has his verified “Twitter Blue” badge?
