Twitter promises it’s really, actually removing legacy blue checks very soon

Twitter reiterated today that it’s going to remove legacy verified checkmarks tomorrow, April 20th. Yes, that does mean Elon Musk’s Twitter intends to remove the last vestiges of what he once deemed the “lords & peasants system” on 4/20, ha ha.

The thing is, I won’t believe Twitter until it actually happens. The company originally said that it would “begin” removing checkmarks on April 1st, but as far as I know, that hasn’t taken place. (Well, outside of Twitter removing The New York Times’ verified checkmark after the publication said it wouldn’t pay the reportedly high fees for organizational accounts, but it seems like Musk made sure that happened.)

And this April 20th date isn’t new; Musk tweeted about it on April 11th. But now that Twitter’s Verified account is tweeting the date, it feels like it could actually happen this time.

We don’t know if the blue checkmark badges will go away gradually or in one fell swoop. Given that removing the badges is a “largely manual process,” according to The Washington Post, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some glitches with the process. When reached for comment, Twitter’s press email replied with a poop emoji, as is recent tradition.

Assuming the change does go through, if you want a blue verified checkmark, you’re going to have to pay for Twitter Blue, which is now available globally and recently rolled out fewer ads for subscribers. But given that paying for Blue has become something of a meme — to the point where Twitter has explored a feature to hide your checkmark — I’m skeptical that enough people will subscribe for Musk to make his $44 billion acquisition worth the cost.

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