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Twitter Blue signups reportedly suspended as company chases impersonators

After several days of parody and fake checkmark account shenanigans, Twitter has seemingly suspended Twitter Blue signups and subscriptions.

TJ Denzer

November 11, 2022 9:45 AM

Image via Twitter

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It has been a chaotic time for Twitter ever since Elon Musk made his offer to buy the company, let alone going through with the $44 billion USD deal. It doesn’t appear to be getting easier either. The company rolled out Twitter Blue, but after a number of pranksters spent the better part of several days manipulating the $8-a-month blue checkmark system, it seems Twitter is going back to the drawing board for a little bit as it attempts to combat impersonation. Twitter Blue signups and subscriptions have been temporarily suspected in the meantime.

The supposed suspension of Twitter Blue signups was seen on November 11, 2022, as reported by outlets such as CNBC. Currently, following the directions to Twitter Blue on both the desktop website and mobile apps leads to a dead end. On desktop, the Twitter Blue ad page says that Twitter Blue signups can only occur on iOS. Meanwhile, in the app on iOS, options for Twitter Blue cannot currently be found in the Profile menu. Meanwhile, some users have reported paying for Twitter Blue, but not having the checkmark that signifies such.

For its part, Twitter and Elon Musk have said nothing official on the matter of Twitter Blue just yet. However, Twitter Support recently shared that it is prioritizing going aggressively after impersonators. Elon Musk further clarified that parody accounts must have some clear identifier of parody in their profile name and bio.

“We’re not currently putting an “Official” label on accounts but we are aggressively going after impersonation and deception,” Twitter Support tweeted on November 9.

Whatever the case, Twitter Blue has clearly not rolled out as intended, and this comes as the Head of Safety and Trust just left the company. As Twitter figures out how to tighten up its rules and stop pranksters from having their way with the platform’s new features, stay tuned as we continue to follow for updates and new developments.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.