Elon Musk’s self-imposed April 1st deadline to remove blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts on Twitter has come and gone, and it appears most accounts have kept their status.
Roughly a week and a half ago, a tweet from the company’s verified account stated the company would “begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks.”
Twitter said anyone wanting to keep their verified status needed to sign up for Twitter Blue. Individual accounts start as low as $8.75/month, and organizations have a $1,000 price tag.
It’s unclear if the move was part of an April Fool’s day joke, as no clarification has been provided since the original tweet was made. News reports indicate the only account to have its blue checkmark removed is the primary New York Times account.
According to Reuters, the publication said it won’t pay for the service “hours after it lost the verified badge.” The publication said it wouldn’t reimburse employees subscribing to the service unless it’s needed for reporting purposes.
However, one change has occurred. The description attached to verified badges has changed. “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account,” the description now reads.
The descriptions previously differentiated between legacy verified and Blue accounts.
The description for Twitter Blue accounts previously mentioned the subscription, while accounts verified in Twitter’s past life read, “this is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable.”
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