Twitter Product CEO Esther Crawford revealed details of how the social network’s new verification program works on Tuesday, following the company’s acquisition by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in late October.
Some of the initial verified accounts will soon be labeled “official,” she said, while any user paying $7.99 per month for Twitter Blue, the company’s subscription product, will have blue check mark. She did not specify what it would take to achieve “official” status.
Musk, who currently serves as Twitter’s CEO and sole director, criticized Twitter’s original verification system, check or verify in blue for notable users potentially impersonated by bad actors.
The Blue test was originally intended to verify the identities of government officials, politicians, celebrities, certain journalists, executives, medical professionals, and organizations whose identities the company verified. Musk himself has benefited from having a verification check mark on Twitter. There are countless journalists, including at CNBC.
Historically, a blue checkmark has told other Twitter users that an account on the social network, and its content, came from the individual or organization displayed on that Twitter profile. At least some users with accounts with a stamp of verification must provide the platform with personal information such as their employer information, phone number or a copy of their driver’s license to verify their identity.
Other social networks, like MetaFacebook and Instagram have similar verification systems.
At Musk’s direction, the Twitter Blue checkmark will instead act as a paid subscriber badge, which the company still plans to call “verified.” Subscriptions have become a major focus for Musk, who wants the platform to become less dependent on advertisers and generate more revenue from subscriptions.
Crawford point on Tuesday, sign up for Twitter Blue and gain a checkmark from the company that will no longer require identity verification, writing:
“Many people have asked about how you can distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers have a blue check mark and the account is verified as official, that’s why we introduced an ‘Official’ label to choose an account when we launched. “
“The new Twitter Blue doesn’t include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription, offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to do this. distinguish between account types.”
“Not all previously verified accounts will have the ‘Official’ label and this label is not available for purchase. Accounts that will receive this label include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and a number of public figures,” she wrote.
Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, joined the social media company when it acquired her startup, Squad, in December 2020. Since Musk took over, she’s become the Twitter Blue’s product leader. The team experienced a significant reduction in its workforce last week, which affected its ability to operate the redesigned November 7 verification system that Musk originally set as his goal. sprint pepper. Crawford’s team is currently trying to re-hire some employees who received termination notices.
Musk’s plans for a new “verification” system have received much criticism.
Comedians, influencers, and actors including Valerie Bertinelli, Kathy Griffin, Ethan Klein, Sarah Silverman, and Rich Sommer all appeared to change their Twitter display names on their verified profiles to “Elon Musk” without indicating that they were parody his account.
Sydette Harry, a technologist and USC Annenberg Civic Media Fellow, told CNBC ahead of the launch of the new Twitter Blue that the company had problems preventing harassment, hate speech, misinformation. skewed and impersonated long before the Tesla CEO took over. For example, the company has never effectively managed to protect black and other minority users, especially non-celebs or public figures with a green check.
She added about the new verification system, “This new method is going to be theatrically bad, because once people pay to verify, it takes the issue from the community’s censorship problem, which can may occur on a free or ad-supported service, a customer service issue.”
She also said she was concerned that Musk appeared focused on US users, despite the service’s large international customer base.
