Unverify Me, Daddy

It is only fitting that his first change will scramble the platform's social hierarchy since his takeover has been chaotic.

Last weekend, as Musk's reign began, news broke that he was implementing a plan to scrap the company's current verification process, where a blue check mark means that someone is who they say they are. People will have to pay a monthly fee for verification in order to use the service. Current verified accounts will have 90 days to pay up or lose their status once it's out.

The shakeup didn't go well with the power users. Stephen King said that he would not be paid to be verified. Musk doesn't seem to be deterred. The blue check rapture is coming.

The original point of verification was undermined by the shift to a pay-to-play model. The blue checks were launched in response to a lawsuit from Tony La Russa. La Russa was annoyed that someone was pretending to be him and making fun of him.

Verification was a way to make prominent people comfortable on the platform. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an early verified account. Verification has always been appreciated by the media. It makes sense for journalists to have a verified account in order to get sources to talk and for audience development teams to check out a story. Blue checks assured a journalist's followers that the story they shared was real and not a hoax.

The blue check system wasn't a panacea for fraud, lies, and other misinformation, but it did help the platform operate as it should. Facebook and TikTok cribbed the blue badges for their own networks. The people have been helpful.

Blue checks help people feel important. They let the world know who is sitting in the section. One of the reasons why they were copied by other networks. They all wanted the same thing. It looks like Musk sees them as the equivalent of a fancy watch. Shouldn't we charge for that? It looks logical that this would be a clout tax.

The blue check doesn't appeal to people because they think it's cool to buy it. Reducing the blue checks to simple, purchasable status symbols will remove any non- dorky justification for having them. The authenticity of the check is diminished when anyone is able to buy it. The idea that these check marks give clout is a shaky one.