Key Points
- Celebrities and public figures have started losing their blue ticks on Twitter.
- Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the plan after he took over the company in 2022.
- But Musk has revealed he is personally paying for blue ticks for several high-profile users.
Twitter owner Elon Musk has revealed he is personally paying for Twitter verification for several high-profile users who have not opted into the paid subscription system.
On Thursday, Twitter officially , several months after the plan was first announced by Mr Musk.
Many of the world's biggest celebrities - including Beyonce, Oprah and Justin Bieber - have all been stripped of their blue ticks.
However, basketballer LeBron James, writer Stephen King, and actor William Shatner have all been singled out by Twitter owner Elon Musk to maintain their blue-tick status. But it seems they may not want it.
"My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t," Mr King wrote on Twitter.
"My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t."
"You're welcome namaste," Mr Musk replied.
LeBron James has previously criticised the subscription system and said he would not pay for verification, but his account still shows a blue tick.
When the account T(w)itter Daily News account posted about the complimentary blue ticks, Mr Musk responded.
"I'm paying for a few personally," he said.
"Just Shatner, LeBron and King," he later added.
What is Twitter Blue?
Twitter is now charging US$8 ($12.50) for Twitter Blue subscriptions in an effort to create a new revenue stream.
The blue tick was previously free and was used to indicate the validity of accounts belonging to politicians, celebrities, journalists, and other public figures.
Under Twitter Blue, users who have paid for a tick are now offered benefits including being prioritised in the algorithm, the ability to post longer audio and video content and fewer ads.
Twitter users have begun losing their blue verification ticks.
Businesses and organisations can also pay for verification, with those who opt in receiving a gold tick.
"My blue tick has gone. I’m not sure if I’m really me or not," comedian Ricky Gervais wrote upon the loss of his verification.
Writer and comedian Richard Osman also farewelled his blue tick.
"Farewell blue tick, old friend. Don't forget, always set your feed to 'Following' rather than 'For You'," he wrote.
"Then you'll keep seeing the people you actually follow, and not people who've paid for attention."
What other changes has Elon Musk made to Twitter?
The blue tick system is just one of several sweeping changes Mr Musk has made since taking over Twitter.
He quickly dissolved the entire board of executives and reportedly sacked half of the company's entire workforce.
The layoffs reportedly included teams responsible for human rights, news curation, those who make the network accessible for people with disability, as well as a range of engineers who controlled algorithmic transparency.
He has also changed the way the platform moderates content, and has allowed the return of previously-banned controversial figures including Donald Trump and Andrew Tate.
Mr Musk also reportedly installed beds in Twitter's head office, and told employees to be prepared to or take a redundancy.
Does Twitter have an expiry date?
Since Mr Musk's takeover, there has been speculation about the future of Twitter amid the reduction in staff, financial losses, fluctuating usage, and loss of advertisers.
In February, Mr Musk acknowledged some of the challenges he had faced.
"Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy, while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties,"
"Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it."
Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022 and has made a series of controversial changes. Source: AP / Susan Walsh
Mr Musk reportedly lost US$182 billion ($270.7 billion) between November 2021 and January 2023. According to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, Mr Musk was worth US$164 billion ($244 billion) at the time of writing.
