Just a few days ago, Twitter got rid of nearly all the blue verified checkmarks on accounts that were put in place before Elon Musk bought the social networking company. He wanted to make people pay $8 a month to get that checkmark instead. It was then revealed that Musk personally put verified checkmarks on the accounts of three celebrity Twitter users. Now it appears there"s yet another partial reversal in his checkmark policy.
As Rolling Stone reports, Twitter has put the blue checkmark back for many accounts that have over one million followers. One of them is Lord of the Rings and X-Men actor Ian McKellen, who wanted to make his followers know that he did not pay to get that badge back.
Despite the implication when you click the blue badge that has mysteriously re-appeared beside my name, I am not paying for the "honour".
— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) April 23, 2023
That"s not the only thing Twitter has shifted gears on lately. Earlier this month, the network labeled the Twitter accounts of media outlets like NPR, the BBC, and PBS as either "state-affiliated" or "government-funded". Now, those labels have been removed from the accounts that had them. NPR.com reports that Musk made that decision because of a suggestion by Walter Isaacson, the famed journalist and official biographer of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Isaacson is reportedly working on a similar biography of Musk.