In a move that's sure to ruffle some feathers, Elon Musk has announced that Twitter will be purging legacy blue check-marks from accounts that were verified under the company's previous regime. The deadline for this purge is 4/20 - which, for those of you not in the know, is a rather appropriate date for something that's going up in smoke.
If you want to keep your blue checkmark, you'll have to pay up - the only accounts that will get to keep their badges are those subscribed to Twitter Blue. It's priced differently for every region, but if you're in India, it'll set you back ₹900 a month for iOS or Android users, and ₹650 a month for web users.
This has very predictably caused an uproar with some celebs already baulking at the idea of paying for verification. LeBron James has said that he won't pay for it but his account is still verified, while Stephen King eloquently said "F... that" to the idea. But the ‘Cheif Twit’ responded by saying "We need to pay the bills somehow!"
If that wasn't enough, Twitter is also now offering a program for businesses and organizations to charge $1,000 per month for verification badges - gold for brands, companies, and nonprofits; grey for governments. All of this begs the question - is the blue checkmark even worth it anymore? After all, it was originally introduced to help users identify genuine accounts of public interest, not to be a status symbol for those who can afford it. But hey, as Musk says, they need to pay the bills somehow! (even if the chaos persists!)