Twitter Blue subscribers may soon be able to hide their ticks to avoid the shame

Twitter Blue subscribers can edit tweets after posting, have much longer character counts (currently 4,000) and their posts are given precedence for visibility. It all costs $8 per month on desktops or $11 per month via the app.

If Elon Musk thought it would bridge the gap created by departing advertisers – mission very much not accomplished.

BREAKING: A new study finds that Elon Musk’s Twitter blue has only earned a paltry $11 million, putting Twitter in an even more precarious financial position. Analysts also predict that the interest payment on Twitter’s massive $13 billion debt is around $1 billion annually.…

— Omar Rivero (@OmarRiverosays) March 25, 2023

The subscription also comes with a tick or a checkmark that mimics the old – or legacy – ‘blue’ ticks, which were intended to verify that the user was who they claimed to be.

From 1st April, those legacy verifications will be discontinued.

On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp

Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3…

— Twitter Verified (@verified) March 23, 2023

We’re not sure the CEO has thought this through.

So on April Fools Day, Blue ticks disappear for people who need them to stop people impersonating them, but anybody can buy a blue tick meaning that they will become totally pointless? Have I got this right @elonmusk

— Dom Joly (@domjoly) March 25, 2023

Every time I see a batshit tweet from a ‘verified’ account, I check to see if it’s paid for. It *always* is. Every single time. Goodness knows how this will work out but asking the most popular content creators on any platform to pay the host seems strange to say the least. https://t.co/mVseDbAn0b

— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) March 24, 2023

Is a blue tick now like a regrettable tattoo? #twitter

— Minnie Driver (@driverminnie) March 25, 2023

The blue tick is about to become the social media equivalent of a toupee. https://t.co/qa9BvG4zSJ

— Richard Littler (@richard_littler) March 24, 2023

Humbly requesting that you remove ours immediately so people don’t think we’re a white nationalist with 30 followers https://t.co/EVEvlOFrHO

— eve6 (@Eve6) March 23, 2023

After April 1st, when the only people with blue ticks are the ones who paid for them. pic.twitter.com/FEA1vZFVdG

— Amanda (@Pandamoanimum) March 25, 2023

One glorious side effect of this, of course – and I’m sure this has been pointed out many times already – is that you’ll be able to pretty much guarantee that everyone with a blue tick is a solid gold dickhead, whereas it’s currently around 50-50. https://t.co/BfEjbkTFy9

— Rhodri Marsden (@rhodri) March 24, 2023

However, there’ll soon be a new feature, which might save Twitter Blue users the embarrassment of people knowing they’ve signed up.

#Twitter keeps working on the ability to control everything related to account verification and identity by adding the option to show or hide your blue checkmark on your profile pic.twitter.com/6uTjBON21N

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 21, 2023