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Elon Musk kills Twitter's Official verification checkmarks hours after they go live

Musk says he axed the new Official verification on Twitter today.

Donovan Erskine

November 9, 2022 9:35 AM

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It was just yesterday that Twitter’s Esther Crawford announced Twitter’s Official verification checkmarks. These transparent checkmarks would be displayed beneath the name of existing verified accounts that Twitter deemed worthy of the distinction. That change went live today, but before users could even get a solid understanding of how it was being rolled out, the new checkmarks were scrapped altogether. We quickly learned why, as Elon Musk said that it was his decision to cancel the feature.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to tech content creator Marques Brownlee that he pulled Twitter’s new Official verification checkmarks. “I just killed it,” he said in response to Brownlee wondering why he was granted one of the new Official checkmarks, only to have it revoked shortly thereafter. In a follow-up to that tweet, Musk said “Blue check will be the great leveler.” One checkmark to rule them all, it seems.

Twitter’s new Official checkmarks went from announced, to released, to canceled in less than 24 hours. That’s a fast turnaround, and one that Elon Musk spoke to in a separate tweet. “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months,” he said. “We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.” It’s unclear what Twitter saw in such a short window of time that made it clear the new Official checkmark system wasn’t working, but the change has been made.

This all comes ahead of the relaunch of Twitter Blue, which will allow users to have their accounts verified alongside a handful of other perks at the price of $8 a month. Originally set to launch last week, the new Twitter Blue was delayed past the midterm elections. It’s currently unknown when it will be released. As we continue to follow the latest developments at Twitter, stick with us here on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_