“Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20,” Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, tweeted on April 11.

Today, April 20, Twitter will remove all legacy verification checkmarks also referred to as badges. 

Musk had mentioned his plan to make Twitter have a subscription-based package for users as early as during the acquisition process of the microblogging company between April and October 2022. 

The subscription-based package has materialised in the form of Twitter Blue, Twitter’s paid option that adds a blue checkmark to the user’s account and offers access to key select features. 

READ ALSO: Musk to Delete 35 Million Twitter Accounts Today

TWITTER LEGACY

Twitter initially had the blue checkmarks attached to the handles of certain users for specific reasons in the past.

According to Twitter, the blue checkmarks appeared on accounts of public interest certified as authentic. How did Twitter verify accounts to be worthy of the blue badge?

“To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active,” Twitter explains on its website.

This was the Twitter Legacy Verification Policy which defined the criteria for verifying user accounts.

For authenticity, Twitter asked users to submit an official means of identification, an official email address and an official website link that directly referred to the user of the account to be verified.

Twitter then determined if the account was notable by Google trends, followership, relevance in a profession or field, association with notable groups and companies or Wikipedia recognition.

The account also needed to have logged into Twitter in the previous six months. Twitter also ruled that this active account needed to have a complete profile with a profile name and profile image.

TWITTER BLUE

“…an opt-in, paid monthly subscription that adds a blue checkmark to your account and offers early access to select new features, like Edit Tweet” is how Twitter defines Twitter Blue.

The features of this premium subscription plan will serve as incentives for some users.

Users may find access to two-factor authentication via SMS, longer tweets, longer video uploads, bookmark folders and text formatting very useful among the select features.

Twitter Blue subscribers also enjoy tweet prioritisation where Twitter gives subscribers’ tweets more visibility, and they will see 50 percent fewer ads. Subscribers can also edit tweets and undo tweets (for tweets no one has viewed at the time of editing).

After Musk took over Twitter in October, he made it clear that he was going to focus on raising profits at the company. One of the few ways to drive income, apart from advertisement, is to market subscription packages.

In the first quarter of 2023, Musk reiterated his commitment to getting more users subscribed to Twitter Blue by ordering the gradual removal of legacy verification checkmarks from April 1.

On Wednesday, Twitter mentioned Musk’s April 20 deadline again.

Tomorrow, 4/20, we are removing legacy verified checkmarks. To remain verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOXAX

Organizations can sign up for Verified Organizations here: https://t.co/YtPVNYypHU

— Verified (@verified) April 19, 2023

COUNTRY	iOS Pricing (Monthly)	Web Pricing (Monthly)	Android Pricing (Monthly)	iOS Pricing (Yearly)	Web Pricing (Yearly)	Android Pricing (Yearly)
Nigeria	₦5,000.00	₦3,650.00	₦5,000.00	₦52,900.00	₦38,500.00	₦52,900.00

READ MORE: TIMELINE: How Elon Musk’s ‘Love’ for Twitter Led to His Takeover

POPULAR TWITTER BLUE REJECTIONS

Some prominent Twitter users have faulted Musk’s decision to remove all legacy verification checkmarks. These users vary from individuals to companies.

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed have all said that they will not subscribe to Twitter Blue. Twitter’s blue checkmark is now a badge of payment rather than a sign of verified, active, notable and authentic accounts.

POLITICO told reporters that the blue checkmark failed to show that a journalist was verified. Vox Media, The Washington Post and Cable News Network also said that they were not planning to pay for a checkmark on Twitter.

New: The New York Times says it is not planning to pay for Twitter verification:

"We aren't planning to pay the monthly fee for verification of our institutional Twitter accounts," a spokesperson tells me.

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 30, 2023

READ ALSO: Lady Complained to Fake Zenith Bank Twitter Handle. She Lost N1m

SUBSCRIBED ADVANTAGE MEANS UNSUBSCRIBED DISADVANTAGE

Musk has assured Twitter users that they will all have access to the microblogging app but they will not have equal access.

Twitter Blue’s premium services will grant subscribers a better user experience. How does this affect users who are not subscribed?

Users can do without editing or undoing their tweets because they managed them well before Twitter Blue. However, some Twitter Blue features automatically put unsubscribed accounts in a lower class.

Twitter will show subscribers’ replies first because their tweets’ visibility is a high priority. This means that tweets from unsubscribed accounts will have lower visibility; people are less likely to see these tweets.

There is also no guarantee that ad volume will not jump immediately after April.

An unsubscribed user will have a less secure account compared to a subscriber because of the paid SMS two-factor authentication.

Twitter has shown that services will not retain the same quality. Unsubscribed tweeps should expect a modest user experience at best.