X Rewards Influential Users With Free Blue Ticks

Last week, Elon Musk’s social media platform X started giving free blue ticks to verified users with a large following. The blue ticks meant to identify verified accounts of influential people were removed and put behind a subscription fee once Musk took over the company in 2022, sparking controversy.

In addition to the return of free blue checks, Musk announced on X that accounts with over 2,500 verified followers will get Premium features for free. Those with more than 5,000 followers will have access to Premium+ services at no charge. The option to buy X’s premium monthly subscription for about $11/month is still there for everyone else.

Users who earned blue ticks under Twitter’s previous verification system lost their verification badge when Musk decided to remove all the blue checkmarks shortly after buying Twitter. Instead, Musk mandated that accounts must pay for X’s premium monthly subscription to get a blue badge. This led to a rise in fake accounts.

Jason Goldman, who served as Twitter’s head of product before leaving in 2010, says Musk still doesn’t know the actual value of the blue check mark. According to Goldman, the significance of the blue check lies in its ability to verify the account holder’s identity.

“The value that accrued from that was for Twitter as a whole, not for the person who had a blue check mark,” Goldman told CNN.

According to CNN, Musk’s removal of old blue checks was a complicated process that took months. Major brands like Nintendo and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly were impersonated shortly after the paid verification process began.

The Eli Lilly stock dropped due to a fake announcement about lowering insulin prices, for example. X introduced new verification colors for businesses and governments in response. However, paid blue checks remained the norm for verifying accounts.

The adoption of paying for blue ticks sparked a lot of controversy when it was introduced. So, presumably, some influential X users report feeling conflicted about all of a sudden getting their blue ticks back.

Actress Yvette Nicole Brown said, “What happened? I didn’t pay for this. I would NEVER pay for this,” as reported by The Standard.

Musk’s decision to offer free blue ticks to influential users on X has sparked concerns about undermining the original purpose of verification — ensuring authenticity. By tying verification to user popularity and commercial interests, the blue tick doesn’t really signify anyone’s true identity.